


Back To You

by TheElvenCyclops



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Child Death, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-01-22 19:06:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 50,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21307085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheElvenCyclops/pseuds/TheElvenCyclops
Summary: After the death of his father, Shay Cormac was brought into the assassin brotherhood by his longtime friend, Liam O'Brien. After spending time training with his new brothers and sisters, the stakes rise when pieces of Eden are discovered to have been brought to the colonies by templars, so Achilles calls in some help. Along with Adewale comes Annushka Lebedev, a Russian assassin that had spent most of her life studying the pieces of Eden and their effects on the world.
Relationships: Shay Cormac/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 17





	1. Ships and Smugglers

**Author's Note:**

> In which Shay and Chevalier fight like third graders on the playground and Liam watches like the teacher that is definitely not paid enough for this shit. 
> 
> up next: Annushka deals with the fallout of the Haiti earthquake and heads for the American colonies.

The frigid northern air burned Shay’s lungs as he hopped from branch to branch, he’d been hunting for hours and found nothing, now he was tracking a different kind of prey. He kept his balance as best he could as he made his approach. One final leap and Shay was perched above him, looking down Shay waited for the right moment. “Well, we won’t lack for firewood at least…” Liam muttered to himself as he looked down at the washed-up debris at his feet. _ Now! _. Shay leaped down from his hiding place and came painfully close to tackling his friend, only for Liam to effortlessly slide out of the way and send Shay rolling off and away from him. The two stood silent for a moment, staring each other down as Liam recovered from the shock of a grown man jumping on his head. Once he realized who it was, his stance relaxed and he laughed as he lowered his hood. “Admit it! I nearly had you!” Shay accused. 

“Nearly counts for nothing, Shay. and besides no, that was just luck.” Shay rolled his eyes and waved his arms dramatically. Pointing at his friend he said, 

“I make my own luck, Liam!”. His friend huffed,

“Ah, you’ve been saying that for years, but you’ve precious little to show for it. Or have you been spending it all gettin’ out of trouble?” 

“Well, you know, trouble just follows me arou-” the sound of a gunshot and a startled flock of birds cut Shay off. The two watched the birds fly off. Liam looked back at him,

“Let's head back,” Liam said as he took the lead, using a nearby tree stump as a boost to get himself onto a fallen tree that bridged across the gap between their beach and Chevalier. “Come on, captain De Verendrye and his crew must’ve run into some trouble.” Shay followed closely behind.

“Who knew meeting with smugglers would lead to no good?” he laughed to himself. 

Shay wasn’t as amused.

“I still don’t understand why you can’t tell me what we’re doin’ here!” Liam leaped across the gap before calling back over his shoulder, 

“Because Chevalier decided not to tell you!” Shay’s stomach burned at that last comment, He and Chevalier had never gotten along, the uptight Frenchman had been nothing but nasty to him from day one, constantly needling at his every movement and mistake, and Shay did his best to return his treatment in kind.

“I thought we were friends, Liam!” Shay snapped back. His feet landed on the edge of the cliff with a hard thud as the two continued on. 

“We are, but this is business,” Liam said. Shay rolled his eyes, it grated on him whenever Liam did this, from Chevalier and even Hope he could expect this, but Liam? Even after all the years they’ve known each other he insisted on keeping Shay in the dark and it irked him. Shay’d spent too much time sulking, though, and Liam had gained the lead. 

“Am I going too fast for you?” he taunted as he climbed another tree. Shay rolled his eyes, 

“I’m just keeping an eye on you, in case you fall down and hurt yourself” 

Liam didn’t bother to respond as he carefully aligned himself, plotting out his fall so he’d safely land in a pile of fallen leaves below them. Shay perched on the same branch as Liam landed on his back in the leaves. Instead of following immediately, Shay took a moment to admire the scenery around him. The midday light glinted off the ocean like a gem in candlelight and the stoic trees swayed gracefully in the northern wind, the air still burned his lungs, but up here it felt less caustic and more natural, more embracing. Liam clambered out of the leaves and stared up at Shay with his arms crossed. Shay forced his eyes away from the ocean and looked down towards the ground. He focused on the leaves that would break his fall, if he timed it right and fell in the right way, he’d walk away from this with all his bones intact. Taking a deep breath, Shay closed his eyes and jumped from the relative safety of his branch down towards the leaf pile. His heart always seized for a moment when he felt his body falling towards the Earth. He forced his body forward mid-fall so his back was to the ground and his face to the sky. If he falls wrong, at least he’ll die with a pretty view. 

But he didn’t fall wrong, thankfully, his back hit the leaves and they broke his fall just as planned He crawled from his leafy pillow after taking a moment to catch his breath. He got to his feet and followed after Liam who had already gone on without him. The two walked a bit further before they could hear a man’s angry muttering. He stood on the shore, surrounded by exhausted men and shattered wood. He paced back and forth with a bottle in hand, mumbling to himself in a foreign tongue. As the two Irishmen approached the man turned to them and his face turned even sourer. 

“Ce que- where the hell was you two!” he bellowed, throwing the bottle to his feet, spilling its contents on the sand. Shay could already feel his temper rising, even the sound of Chevalier’s voice was enough. 

“We were out hunting, what happened here?” Shay said. The angry Frenchman turned from them, gesturing to the men that surrounded him, 

“My men were attacked by some English sea dogs!” 

Something in Shay snapped, the way Chevalier was talking, the way he shouted and waved his arms like an indignant child, he was already done with it. 

“Why, Captain Joseph, couldn’t you fight them all off by yourself like you’re always sayin’?” Shay put his hand on Liam’s shoulder as a show of camaraderie, but Liam cringed and pushed Shay away as Chevalier stared him down with a vengeful passion. 

“It is Capitaine Louis Josephe Gaultier Chevalier De La Verendrye.” he growled “And you are dreaming if you think any training will make you into a proper Assassin! Do you even know what that means?” Shay and Liam glanced uneasily at one another before Chevalier continued berating Shay. “It means being responsible for an ancient and proud tradition!” he shouted, taking a step closer to Shay. “It means obeying your mentor without question! How else will we ensure freedom for the human race?” Shay felt the burning feeling in his stomach return. Chevalier had never taken him seriously, he barely took Liam seriously. Shay swallowed the fire and responded as calmly as he could. 

“That’s pretty words, Chevalier. But I don’t feel too free at the moment.” that was the wrong answer, evidently. The fury in Chevalier’s eyes flared and he took a step back. 

“Well then, feel educated!” 

Shay barely had time to react as Chevalier’s fist connected with the side of Shay’s face. He stumbled backward, struggling to stay on his feet. He dragged himself back up and balanced himself, leaning forwards on bent back and knees, his arms raised defensively in front of him. 

“I will teach you some manners, boy!” the Frenchman barked. Shay glanced over at Liam, who was standing still as stone, with his arms crossed in front of him. He didn’t have the time to ask what he was doing, though, Chevalier relentlessly throws punch after punch, never letting up. Shay dodged as best he could, but some blows just couldn’t be avoided. By the time Liam had finally decided it was time to break up the fight, Shay’s jaw and chest ached. There would definitely be some nasty bruises. Liam shoved his way between the two men, narrowly saving shay from another blow to the face. 

“Gentlemen, stop!” Liam paused for a moment to further push the two apart. “We’ve got a common enemy, and I reckon he’s close!” Chevalier growled back at him, 

“The royal navy attacked my ship and forced my men to flee! We are stranded and what is worse, the smugglers we were supposed to meet have been taken prisoner!” the two men would have gone right back to beating each other senseless if Liam hadn’t been separating the two. 

“Shay and I will free those smugglers, you, treat your wounded!” Chevalier huffed as he backed away from the two Irishmen and turned to his wounded friends. Liam tapped Shay’s shoulder and gestured for him to follow. Liam stopped in his tracks for a moment and bent down towards a crate at his feet. When he straightened up again he was holding a pair of blades, a dagger in one hand and a sword in the other. “Take these, you’ll need them,” he told Shay as he shoved the weapons into his hands. Shay took a moment to loosen his wrists and acquaint his hands with the weapons before sheathing them and following his friend. “Ready to teach them a lesson?” Liam called over his shoulder. 

“They don’t stand a chance!” Shay called back as he pulled his hood over his head. Shay followed Liam as they positioned themselves over their targets from the sturdy branches of a sprawling tree. The tree didn’t have any leaves, however, and so it didn’t provide sufficient cover. The two perched on the barren branches for a moment to observe the hapless redcoats that milled about below them. They’d set up a small camp on the beach that served as a makeshift prison. Small groups of imprisoned smugglers sat under guard, bound and freezing. A poorly armed sloop of war lay anchored just offshore, likely holding more of the prisoners. Liam leaped from the tree down into another pile of fallen leaves and stalked towards his first victim, quickly dispatching him with his blade before disappearing into the brush. Shay quickly followed suit. Tiptoeing out of the leaves and taking cover in the bushes that skirted the tree. He took his time, carefully planning his steps so they made as little noise as humanly possible. 

“Where are your mates now, you bilge rats?” the guard taunted. The acid that dripped from his voice rubbed Shay in the wrong direction. It made him think of angry drunks on the streets of New York, throwing profanities at anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path. He stalked up behind the guard, unsheathing his hidden blade. “If I had my way, I’d-”. He didn’t have time to finish his sentence as Shay’s blade sunk into the man’s right jugular. He choked for a moment before falling back into Shay. he carefully laid the dying man down into the bush beside him before cutting the smuggler loose from his bindings. 

“Many thanks, I thought I’d be hanged” he whispered to Shay as he ducked for cover. He had the right idea, the guards bright red uniform stood out starkly against the muted browns and greens of the brush he was currently crouched in. Shay waited for a moment when the guards’ backs were turned before he bolted from the brush into one of the tents. He stayed crouched low to the ground behind the canvas as he scoped out the remainder of his surroundings. More redcoats still milled about around the prisoners that remained onshore. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a gloved hand snatch a guard from his post and into the shadows, never to be seen again. _ Liam_. Shay stalked towards the ship. Leaving Liam to deal with the remaining guards stationed onshore. He took a deep breath before plunging into the frigid ocean. He swam as fast as he could before clawing his way up onto the ship, another blast of cold hit him as he left the water. Shay did his best to ignore it as he scaled the stern of the ship. He peeked over the railing to gauge the situation on deck. More prisoners sat crouched up towards the bow under heavy guard. To his right, though, there was only a single redcoat facing away from him, looking out towards the ocean. Shay crept silently over the railing, all the while his eyes darted between the guards up ahead and his friend on the right. The second their backs were turned, Shay dashed forwards and buried his blade in the soldier’s back and tipped him overboard into the ocean before he could react. The splash was inevitable, though. _ A fight it is, then. _

Shay sprung to his feet, hunched forward with his sword and dagger front and ready. The redcoats went at him with bayonets and rapiers, the whirlwind of steel was enough to make Shay dizzy. He didn’t see one of them slip below deck. Just as the last redcoat fell, and the prisoners cut free, reinforcements came spewing out. The men he’d just freed jumped overboard, leaving him to his fate. Shay stood on deck, completely encircled by six angry redcoats, all of which had their muskets pointed directly at his head. Shay froze for a moment, weighing his options. His decision was made for him when he saw a brown leather coat out of the corner of his eye. _ Liam! _He bolted fast enough to shock the redcoats, ducking out of the way of one musket barrel, sending the bullet meant for his head into the head of the soldier next to him. 

Chevalier and Liam pounced on the unsuspecting men with a vengeance. Chevalier especially, he slashed at them with a fury Shay’d never seen before. Three on six was far more evenly matched than six on one, those poor boys didn’t stand much of a chance now, against three trained assassins. The last body hit the floor in less than a minute, Liam had sliced open his throat with a stolen rapier. 

“I was savin’ those fellas for you!” Shay rasped as he caught his breath. 

“Very thoughtful,” Liam said as he sheathed his weapons and began to assess the damage. Shay turned to watch a struggling redcoat try and pick himself off the ground, only to be run through by Chevalier’s sword. 

“Maybe you are not completely useless, Shay,” he stated flatly as he pulled the bloody steel from the man’s rib cage. 

“Speakin’ of useless” Shay said, stopping for a moment to sheathe his own weapons. “Those blockheads won’t be needin’ this vessel anymore.” he pointed out wistfully. It wasn’t the best ship Shay had seen, far from it. The paint was peeling, the cannons were rusting and the deck was bloodstained, and lord only knows what’s going on below deck, but it was still afloat, and things could always be repaired. Chevalier rolled his eyes, 

“You want this pile of… _ merde _?” he asked with his typical condescending tone. “You want her Shay” Chevalier gave a dramatic bow, “She is yours” he immediately dropped the act and bared his teeth “Now bring me back to my ship” 


	2. Bandages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Annushka deals with the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake and leaves for the American colonies with Adewale
> 
> Up next: Shay meets a pretty Russian and a grizzled sailor

Anne was entirely unprepared. She’d sailed to Haiti months ago in search of a precursor temple. Her findings were promising, the strange artifacts Adewale had in his possession displayed a remarkably accurate map, with a beacon marking a specific area in the Caribbean sea. Vendredi, a charming maroon with a sharp tongue and sharper wit, had volunteered to retrieve any pieces of Eden that could be found there, he hasn’t returned. When the earthquake hit, all hell broke loose. Fires raged for days, entire families were buried beneath the rubble and more were left parted or homeless. She herself had narrowly escaped being crushed to death by a crumbling roof. These past few days she’d spent with Abéla and many others doing their best to tend to the wounded. Many doctors have been wounded themselves, directing the nurses from their beds, or leaving inexperienced volunteers like Anne to learn for themselves. Abéla and the others were immensely helpful in teaching her basic first aid, but more often than not it wasn’t enough. All makeshift salves and bandages in the world won’t save you from corruption or Mormal. 

The heat and humidity were unbearable. The sweat and smell of so many people crammed into a building together were abysmal, the sweat coated her skin in a light sheen, gluing the loose hair escaping from her bun stuck to the back of her neck, knowing it couldn’t be helped only made it worse in her eyes. The sounds were the worst, though. The wailing of those grieving for lost friends and family, the death rattles, the moaning of the wounded, it all melded together into a miserable cacophony that grated on her ears as nothing else could. A man jostled past her in the crowded makeshift hospital, he and his partner carried a gurney. On it was another corpse to join the hundreds that have yet to be buried. A limp hand hung out from the tattered sheet it had been hastily wrapped in. Anne closed her eyes as they passed. A few months ago, she would have felt something, grief, rage, pity, but after these past few weeks, she’d gone numb. All the blood, death and devastation had ground away any sensitivity to human suffering she had. Anne kept her eyes closed for a bit longer, it had been at least 32 hours since she’d last had any rest. The cot she had towards the back of the hospital was close to where the children were laid. It was nigh impossible to sleep at all when the wails of grieving mothers were so close by. _ Breathe, Annushka, there's work to be done. _

She shook her head and collected her thoughts, bandages, we need more bandages. Anne shuffled her way through the hospital until she made it to the little huddle of chairs pushed into a forgotten corner. By the chairs, there was a wooden box, riddled with insects and rot. She opened the box and cursed, _ no more fabric. _No more fabric meant no more bandages. She slammed the box closed, brushing off a rogue termite she shoved her way to the opposite end of the hospital to her cot. She dropped to her knees and pulled her bag out from beneath her cot. Very few of her things had been salvaged from the rubble, two of her eight notebooks, her ring, and one of her shifts. Her shift was made from sturdy linen, with no embroidery or lace, it would do. Closing the bag, the shift in hand, she returned to the lonely sewing station. Sitting alone, she cut the garment to ribbons and carefully began to remake it into bandages. 

Anne worked until the sun fell below the horizon. There were no candles she could light, and the material she was working with was precious. Cutting off the remaining thread, she wrapped up the finished bandages and dropped them in the box. Her neck ached and her eyes were strained. Her knees popped when she stood. Making yet another trip to the opposite end of the hospital, Anne collapsed on her cot. Making note of the threadbare blanket that could be used for more material if needed. The sun was high in the sky when she was shaken awake, her eyes came into focus to see Adewale sitting at her bedside. 

“Good morning” she greeted, her voice still heavy with sleep. 

“Good afternoon, you mean,” he said with an understanding smile. 

“Ugh” she groaned, rubbing the exhaustion from her eyes, “I’ve been out that long?” the old man sat back in his seat and laughed. 

“Yes, you have. slept like the dead you did. Abéla thought we’d have to bury you too!”. Anne laughed bitterly, 

“Not today!” she said.

“Well, I hope not” Adewale replied. He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees, lowering his voice so low she could barely hear him over the bustle of the hospital. “We’ve found where the Templars have taken the pieces of Eden. the two of us are leaving for the British colonies tomorrow morning.”. Anne could only nod in reply as he rose and left her to her work. She couldn’t help the joy she felt at Adewale’s news, she hated to leave Abéla and the others, but she was so unbelievably grateful to be escaping. 

_ She was finally leaving this hell. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mormal: contemporary term for Gangrene  
Corruption: Contemporary term for an infection  
Shift: a woman's undergarment worn next to the skin, typically made of linen. 
> 
> https://www.tullyhistoricalsociety.org/tahs/medical.php#medterms


	3. Her Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Shay meets Anne and gets scolded for his lack of punctuality.
> 
> Up next: Anne gets to know the colonial assassins and begins the search for the pieces of Eden.

The sun beat down on the back of Shay’s neck. He’d drawn the short straw and gotten stuck chopping firewood. His back and shoulders ache in protest as he brought his ax down on a wooden log, splitting it in two with a hard thud. One more down. He was brought out of his thoughts by laughter. He craned his neck up to see Achilles rising to greet two strangers accompanied by Liam. The first was a grizzled old man, marked with wrinkles and tattoos. The second was a woman with black hair. Achilles first greeted the old man. The two embraced and greeted each other like old friends. The old man spoke first, “Achilles!” he joyed. 

“Adewale! How go things in the west indies?” Achilles asked. Adewale’s face fell,

“Very poorly, I’m afraid,” he responded. The smile melted from his face, 

“Your countenance tells me we should discuss this, come”. With that Achilles and the two strangers left to continue their conversation in private. Shay watched them go before asking Liam:

“Who’re our visitors?”. Liam looked away from him and towards the grayed old man,

“That’s Adewale. He was a slave who freed himself and hundreds of his brothers in the west indies. That man’s a living incarnation of the creed.” Shay looked back at Adewale,

“I see” he breathed.

“Not sure who she is, though,” Liam added. Shay kept his eyes on Adewale and the woman accompanying him, they both looked exhausted, weary from some ordeal Shay was ignorant of. He quit his staring when Liam tapped him on the shoulder and asked, “Join me for some practice?” 

“Soon” Shay assured, “I have some other business first.” Shay embedded the blade of his ax in the dirt at his feet as Liam turned to go. Shay went to get a better look at their visitors. He crouched in the brush beside the porch where Achilles and his guests sat. 

“Tell me what happened, old friend.” Achilles began. 

“It was terrible, Achilles, the ground shook, and the ocean waves crashed over port au prince!” Adewale explained. Shay couldn’t see Achilles’ face, but the shock in his voice was apparent,

“How many were lost?” he asked. 

“Thousands, no family was left untouched” the woman beside Adewale sighed in corroboration.

“This is terrible news!” Achilles said, “I hate to bring up practical matters at a time like this… but did Makandal’s man complete his task before the earthquake hit?” Shay’s curiosity peaked, he strained his ears to catch every word. 

“I cannot know” Adewale responded, “Vendredi has not been found, he was a strong maroon, one of Makandal’s best students.” Achilles gasped,

“Such a shame! So we cannot know if he found the site…” 

"Indeed” confirmed Adewale “If there was a temple under the waves, I doubt it is still standing” Adawale’s voice sounded defeated. 

“And the artifacts that showed the way?” Achilles asked hopefully. Adewale responded with a flat

“Stolen. Templars broke in during the chaos. They seized the manuscript and precursor box. I followed them at sea, but lost their trail when they got to New York” the two fell quiet for a moment before Achilles continued,

“We must consider what to do next…” Shay heard Achilles breath hitch “But I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” He said with a more formal tone of voice, he must be talking to the woman. “You must be Annushka. Adewale has assured me you know you’re the best when it comes to precursor artifacts.” the woman laughed dryly. 

“Yes, sir. I’ve spent years learning how the box operates. If it’s here, as Adewale believes, I think I can be of use to you.” Her voice was low and smooth, marked by a distinctly Russian accent, not unpleasant, but definitely present. “And please” she added, “Call me Anne” 

_ Anne. so that’s her name, then. _

“Anne it will be, then.” Achilles responded. “There’s an empty room in the guest house you may use as long as you need, make yourself at home.” Achilles’ voice had a warmth to it Shay only heard when he was talking with his family, and Anne returned his warmth in kind, 

“Thank you, Achilles,” she said. The three continued talking, Shay slunk away, leaving them none the wiser. He skirted the house and went to join the others. When he approached the campfire near the training ground, Liam, Hope, and Kassegowasse were there, sitting and chatting with one another. Hope and Liam sitting on a fence and Kassegowasse sitting on a tree stump. When he got closer Hope stopped mid-sentence and stared him down. 

“You are late,” she said matter of factly. 

“Hope! What’d I miss?” Shay asked as he bent down to pour himself a drink from the pot warming on the fire. 

“Only the first hour of raining” Kassegowasse pointed out. Shay went on the defense, 

“We’re always training, Kassegowasse!” Shay wasn’t about to admit that he’d spent the past hour eavesdropping on their mentor’s conversations.

“And will continue to do so!” he urged. Hope chimed in,

“Do not waste your words, Shay abhors improvement as much as cats abhor leashes.” She sounded like she was about to burst out into fits of laughter, and Liam was barely hiding an amused grin. Shay could only manage a weak

“Hey!”. Hope hopped down from her perch on the wooden fence

“A pity” She said, running her fingers across his shoulders as she passed him. “The boy has so much potential.” sweetness dripped from her voice until she turned on her heel and stared him down. “But so little discipline” She turned away from him and left to continue her training and the others began to follow suit.

“Alright. Alright!” Shay called after her, “What would you have me do?” 

“Well played” Liam muttered. Shay lost interest in his drink, leaving it next to the pot as he went to follow Liam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up Next: Anne gets to know the colonial assassins and begins the search for the pieces of Eden.


	4. Call Me Anne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: Anne meets the Colonial assassins 
> 
> Up next: Shay and Liam begin their search for the manuscript, Anne and Chevalier do the same.

Anne made it to her new room a few hours after her initial meeting with Achilles. She and Adewale had traveled to his homestead from New York. the journey to and from Haiti had been draining enough, along with traveling to the city and out into the countryside again. It reminded her of her childhood, traveling with her father and brothers from their home in Sankt-Peterburg to the assassin council in Moskva; A trip they’d make a few times a year. She threw herself on the bed, wrapping herself tightly in the sheets as she reminisced on her youngest brother, Alexei, on those cold nights they’d be traveling Alexei would often refuse any further blankets and insisting she take them instead because ‘he wasn’t cold’. Her heart ached at the thought of her brothers. The twins Alexei and Boris were a decade younger than her and had more zeal between them than any pair of twelve-year-olds should have. She was tempted to go to sleep immediately but decided against it in favor of unpacking first. It didn’t take her long. Most of the belongings she’d had were lost in Haiti. She was grateful that some of her research had been saved, not all of it, but at least she didn’t have to start entirely from scratch. She placed her ring and notebooks on the little end table beside her bed, along with a little money Abéla had forced into her hands when she left the hospital. When she had the chance, she would go into the city and buy some more cloth to replace the clothes she’d lost. But for now, her robes would have to do. Her father had given her a new set of robes as a parting gift when she first left Sankt-Peterburg for Haiti. They were comprised of a simple linen undershirt beneath a sturdy tailcoat, and tanned leather Breeches with knee-high boots, perfect for physical activity. When she finished unpacking her meager belongings she plopped back into bed and fell into a dreamless sleep. 

When she awoke the sun was shining through the window and birds were chirping outside. Anne hadn’t bothered undressing before going to bed. She smoothed out her clothes and plaited her hair into a long braid before leaving. When she walked through the door she walked directly into someone’s chest. They jumped away from one another and stared in shock for a moment before he started laughing, and she couldn’t help but laugh too.

“Well I guess I don’t need to wake you up!” he chuckled. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t realize you were out here!” she said as her giggling slowed.

“Achilles asked me to come to get you. Abigail’s got breakfast ready.” his own laughter had stopped, but his smile still remained. 

“Guess there wasn’t a need”. The man she had run into was significantly taller than her, the top of her head barely reached his shoulders. He looked down at her with mischievous brown eyes, his hair was a bit darker and he wore it long and scruffy, His face was hidden behind thick stubble. 

“I’m Shay,” he said as he walked with her down the stairs and outside. He spoke with an Irish accent, it sounded odd to her, it was different from the Irishman that had escorted her and Adewale to the homestead. 

“Anne” she responded. 

“Anne.” he echoed. “So, where are you from?” he asked as they strolled down the little path that leads from the guest house to the manor. 

“Sankt-Peterburg, and you?” he cocked an eyebrow at her 

“Where?” Anne cringed, she didn’t use the English name.

“Saint Petersburg? Russia?” his eyebrows shot up as he made the connection in his mind. 

“Oh! I see now. heh,” he chuckled half-heartedly to himself, scurrying ahead to open the door for her. She smiled her thanks and entered the manor. It was a cozy place, there was an office to her left and a dining room to her right, up ahead there was a staircase leading to a second story. She’d have time to adventure later, she followed Shay into the dining room and the two took their seats with the others. On her right was Shay, shoveling eggs and bacon into his mouth. To her left was Liam, doing something similar, if a bit cleaner. At the head of the table was Achilles, at his side was a woman, her skin was dark, like Achilles’, she had high cheekbones, a small pointed nose and wide eyes that scanned the room with bright awareness. Next to her was a young boy, no older than five, shoving food into his mouth as gracefully as a child that young could. Directly across from her was a woman with a sharp jawline and cheekbones. Her brown eyes appraised her with a cold harshness that unnerved Anne. 

“Achilles tells me you know about pieces of Eden,” she said matter of factly. 

“I do, I’ve been studying them for years,” Anne responded as she eyed the food laid out on the table. the woman across from her hummed. 

“What’s your name?” she asked defensively. 

“Call me Anne,” she responded before filling her plate with a slice of bread, a few slices of bacon and a pile of scrambled eggs. The first bite was heavenly, It was the first good meal she’d had in weeks. 

“And you?” Anne asked her. The woman looked back at her silently for a moment before responding. 

“Hope Jensen.” Anne hummed and continued eating. Shay finished what was on his plate and chugged a cup of coffee before standing to leave. Achilles stood and left with him, leaving the others to finish on their own. 

“So, Anne” Liam started. “How are you with a gun?” Anne shrugged her shoulders, 

“I’m alright. Why do you ask?” Liam sipped from his coffee before saying 

“I’d like to see how you hold up, care to join me after breakfast?” Anne nodded,

“Of course” 

Hope, Liam, and Anne finished their breakfast and left the woman and her son alone at the table. The three left the manor together, Hope split off from them as they stepped into the morning sun while Anne followed Liam down the steps and to a training ground across from the manor, a little more walking and they were led to a makeshift shooting range. Three target dummies were lined up side by side, boxed in by fallen trees laid on the ground around them. 

“You don’t have any pistols, do you?” Liam asked. Anne shook her head.

“The set I had were lost in-” she paused for a moment, pushing the thoughts of the hospital out of her head as best she could. Anne swallowed thickly

“In Haiti” Liam hummed his understanding and pulled a pair of flintlocks from the holsters at his hips. 

“Here, you can use these.” Anne nodded and carefully took them from him. 

“Thank you,” she said. She turned from Liam and looked towards the target dummies. She poured gunpowder down the barrel of the flintlock, following it with lead shot and finally packing it all down with a ramrod. Anne repeated the process with the second flintlock. 

“Shoot these targets, take your time, but not too long. There’s more after this.” Liam said. Anne kept her eyes on her targets. She stood with her feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders back and spine straight. She put the forehead of the centermost dummy in her sights, waiting for her lungs to exhale before pulling the trigger. The shot lined up well, landing between where the eyes would be if she’d shot at a person and not a straw-filled doll. She lifted the opposite pistol and took aim at the dummy to her left. Keeping form she pulled the trigger on an inhale by mistake. The timing changed how her shot traveled, instead landing farther up on the forehead. She reloaded both of the pistols and took her shot at the final dummy. Anne put more effort into this final shot and it embedded itself in the dummy’s right temple. She looked back at Liam as she reloaded again, only to find out her audience had grown. Next to Liam stood Shay. leaning up against a tree with his eyes on her.

“Oh, no! Don’t let me distract you!” he leaned towards her, “The schoolmaster hates it when you get distracted”. Liam rolled his eyes, 

“Well, anyone can hit targets standing still, Let’s see how you do on the run” he pointed towards a path that began near the shooting range. 

Anne nodded and took off running. Her aim wasn’t nearly as good as it had been when she was standing still, but that was to be expected. She still hit her targets and had circled back to Shay and Liam in less than a minute. Her run slowed to a walk as she reloaded the pistols and handed them back to Liam. 

“Well done, Anne. keep it up!” he praised. Anne couldn’t hide a prideful smile. 

“Is there anything more you need from me?” she asked. Liam paused for a moment before turning to his friend.

“Shay, have you visited Hope today?” Shay shrugged his shoulder and shook his head 

“Not yet, why?” Shay asked. Liam’s face lit up,

“Perfect. How about you and Anne spar for a bit instead?” he suggested. Shay turned to Anne,

“Are you as good with a sword as you are with a gun?” Anne shrugged her shoulders. 

“I can hold my own, but I haven’t practiced in a while.” Shay grinned and pushed himself off the tree to stand on his own. 

“Well, now I’m curious!” the two left Liam to his business and headed off. Anne let Shay take the lead, following him past the campfire at the center of the training ground and father until they found a circle of dirt surrounded by wooden fencing. Hope was there leaning against the fence quietly talking to one of her men. Anne felt multiple eyes on her back as Shay handed her a shining rapier. Anne shook the feeling away as she loosened her knees and corrected her stance. Shay had unsheathed his own blade and done the same. The two stared at one another for a moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Anne carefully appraised Shay’s movements, waiting for a moment of weakness. Her moment came when he wound himself up for an attack, he pushed forward and Anne stepped aside and in a blink, their blades met. The sound of clashing metal ground on her ears. His eyes lagged behind her as he realized where she’d gone. He pulled back and turned towards her again. Anne split her focus between keeping her form and watching Shay. His eyes darted from her eyes to her blade and back again. Anne waited for him to make eye contact with her again before attacking. He had been watching her instead of her weapon, so he hadn’t seen it coming. He barely managed to block it, as their weapons clashed Anne put as much pressure on Shay as she could manage, pushing his sword as far away from her as possible. His attention followed his sword and Anne took the opportunity to push her body forward and slam her body against his as hard as she could. She was much smaller than him, she wasn’t big enough to knock him off his feet, but it was enough to catch him off guard and get him to drop his sword. Anne snatched it midair and retreated. When Shay looked back at her he saw her with twice as many weapons as when they’d started. Shay stood in shock for a moment before he began to laugh. He rose his hands in playful surrender, 

“Remind me to never make you angry,” he said. Anne couldn’t help but laugh with him. She was leaning the swords against the fence when the thought occurred to her: She’d laughed more in the one morning than she had in the past month. She grinned to herself. It felt good.


	5. Rings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which:the search for the precursor artifacts begin 
> 
> Up next: Anne and Shay meet up with an assassin contact and find their first target.

Shay gazed down the blade into Anne’s shining blue eyes. She stared him down with intense determination. He didn’t think she’d go as far as to disarm him, their match didn’t even last nearly as long as he thought it would. He’d underestimated her and it came back to bite him. Shay couldn’t help but laugh at his own stupidity. She laughed along with him, a low, melodic sound that put a warm feeling in his stomach. Shay rose his hands in surrender. 

“Remind me to never make you angry,” he said. Shay let his smile fade as he watched her put their swords down by the fence and plop down in the grass. “So, who taught you to fight like that?” he asked as he sat down next to her. 

“My father. He taught us all. From the moment we could hold a sword.” Shay looked over at her, some of her hair had escaped the braid and fell over her shoulder in inky tresses.

“Not many men would teach their daughters to fight.” Shay pointed out. Anne grinned at him, 

“Well, my father is not like most men!” she said proudly

“Oh, really?” Shay leaned closer to her, propping his head on the palm of his hand. “Tell me about him.” the playful look in Anne’s eyes softened. 

“My father is the mentor of the Sankt-Peterburg assassins. He’s trained me, Alexei, Boris.” she paused. “I can’t think of anyone he hasn’t had a hand in educating in one way or another.” He gazed at her with a confused look, 

“Alexei? Boris?” he asked Anne smiled, 

“My brothers, he taught us all.” she paused for a moment, “He even taught me my English!” Shay smiled.

“He taught you well,” Shay said. Anne smiled back at him and the two sat in silence for a bit. 

“You never did tell me where you’re from” Anne pointed out. Shay looked at her blankly,

“What?” he asked

“I asked you where you were from this morning and you never answered me. I’m curious!” Shay internally cringed. He remembered that conversation. He was still kicking himself over not recognizing the name ‘Sankt-Peterburg’, along with this, she probably thinks Shay’s a moron. 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ignore you!” he apologized. Anne waved her hand 

“It’s fine, I’m just curious. I told you where I’m from, it’s only fair you tell me where you’re from.” She had turned onto her side to fully face him, supporting her head with the palm of her hand. 

“Well, since you’re so curious, maybe I ought to keep you wondering” he teased. Anne clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes playfully. 

“Well, fine.” she said, “If you won’t talk to me, I’ll find someone who-” Shay cut her off. “I’m just playing with you, lass! Don’t leave!” She settled back into her spot in the grass with a satisfied smile.

“I was born and raised in New York, my aunt raised me while my father worked at sea,” he said. Out of the corner of his eye, Shay watched Liam walk down the path that leads to the beach. 

“Excuse me, would you?” he rose from his seat and went to follow Liam, leaving Anne alone. Shay found Liam standing alone on the docks, staring off into space. Shay came to his side and asked: 

“Where to?” Liam shook himself from his thoughts 

“Wherever templar affairs lead us.” This was odd. Shay had known Liam for nearly a decade. Liam was calculating, always thinking one step ahead, if either of them were to jump into a situation headfirst like this, it would be Shay. 

“Liam!” Shay said, “It’s not like you to set out without a plan!” Liam looked back at Shay with unsure eyes. 

“Plan or no plan, we choose our own battlefield” he paused and shook the worry from his face, replacing it with a smile 

“And hey, we’re not most at ease when we’re at sea?” he asked. Shay slapped his friend on the back, 

“Right you are!” he said, “Let's set sail.” 

The rest of the day was spent packing up supplies for a longer voyage. Barrels of rum, cloth, hardtack, tools, and the like were all being carefully stowed away on the Morrigan while Shay packed up his own things. He sorted through his room, going through a mental checklist of everything he needed. He absent-mindedly brushed a gloved hand over his collarbone only to find something missing. He panicked for a moment and frantically searched the room until he found what he was looking for. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the necklace resting on his bed. A pair of golden rings hanging from a simple leather band. one ring was noticeably larger than the other. He hung the rings around his neck the moment he found them, they’d be safest in a place he could keep them close. Shay’s father had given him them years ago, roughly six months before he disappeared, he kept them with him whenever he went out to sea, they brought him a feeling of security. 

Shay packed the rest of his things with relative ease. A few clean shirts, whetstones, his flintlocks, and a few other bits and pieces. Once everything else had been packed Shay took his bags in hand and went to stow them in the Morrigan. As he went, he saw Anne sitting with Achilles and Kassegowasse, the three of them sitting around a table, Anne waving her hands enthusiastically as she told a story. He walked down to the beach and boarded the Morrigan. His ship. The thought of it still made him a little giddy. He’d had her for a few months now and he’d improved her a bit, some fresh paint here, a new canon there, but there was still plenty to improve. Shay ducked into his quarters below deck and set his things on the desk. He stretched his arms and yawned. He’d worry about putting things away properly later, for now, he thought, he’d take a walk. Shay climbed the steps out of his quarters and made his way back to shore. He wandered up the hill towards the homestead, allowing his thoughts to wander. First to Liam and the others, the Morrigan, and finally to Anne. he smiled when he thought of the triumphant look on her face when she’d disarmed him earlier, and the pride in her voice when she told him about her father. He came out of his thoughts when he got to the training ground, still an active hub so late in the day. Liam was still off preparing to leave, Chevalier was in New York doing the same. It was mostly Hope’s men training there, save only for the sparring ring. Shay leaned against a tree and watched Hope and Anne spar one another with wooden training blades. Her fight with Shay had been entirely different than her fight with Hope. While her fight with Shay had been faced paced and ended quickly, her fight with Hope was careful and calculated. Anne had gone on the offensive very quickly earlier, but now she was strictly defensive. The two women eyed one another, stepping forward as the other stepped back and vice versa. When Hope took a swing Anne jumped back and deflected the blow. 

Hope seemed to be getting irritated, she swung more and more often, getting more and more aggressive as Anne twirled around her. She stepped out of Hope’s path again, only for her eyes to trail on Shay for a little too long, giving Hope the time to trip her up and knock her to the dirt. She lay there stunned for a moment before scrambling to her feet. 

“Well done,” Anne said as she handed the sword back to Hope. Hope hummed disapprovingly. 

“Your form is good,” she said “but you’re too defensive. If you never go on the offense it’s only a matter of time before someone finds an opening” Anne nodded silently, her eyes darting from Hope to Shay. Hope rolled her eyes and dropped the training swords in the dirt and walked away, leaving Anne and Shay alone. 

“Well, that was quite something,” Shay said. Anne sighed, 

“She doesn’t like me,” she said matter of factly. Shay shrugged 

“It takes time for her to warm up to people. She’s fine with Liam and the others, it’s you and me she needs to warm up to.” Anne looked up and him with a confused look 

“how long have you been here?” she asked. 

“With the assassins, you mean? Almost a year,” he said matter of factly Anne looked shocked, then she groaned. 

“You’ve been here a year and she still hasn’t warmed up to you?” Shay chuckled,

“Almost a year” he corrected. Anne groaned again and buried her face in her hands dramatically. Shay was about to say something more, but he was interrupted by a newcomer to the conversation. 

“Shay, Anne,” Kassegowasse said stoically. The two turned to him as he continued. “Achilles needs to speak with you. Both of you” 

Shay and Anne glanced at one another before going to follow Kassegowasse back into the manor. He led the two through the main hallway and into Achille’s office. The man was bent over his desk, books and papers scattered about. Achilles’ eyes glanced up at them and he smiled. 

“There you are!” he started. “Liam says he’s got the Morrigan prepared, Shay.” He nodded respectfully, 

“Thank you, mentor,” Shay said. Achilles turned to Anne. 

“Chevalier waits for you in New York. You’ll be accompanying him to meet with a contact of his.” 

“I’ll leave immediately” Anne responded. 

“Good.” Achilles said, looking back down to his papers. That was their cue to leave. The two left side by side, walking out of the manor together only to slit off, Shay heading for the Morrigan and Anne headed back to her room. Chevalier had a lead on the precursor artifacts. _ The hunt was on. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My keyboard was acting up and kept typing 'Hope' as 'Hoe'. I don't think my computer likes her very much...


	6. Patience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: Shay and the gang stop in Percé for some chill time before meeting with an assassin contact. 
> 
> Up Next: Shay goes after Lawrence Washington while Anne goes after her own target.

Anne had arrived in New York two days after speaking with Achilles. Shay had left the same day. When she arrived in New York she pushed her way through the crowded streets to get to the Gierfaut as soon as possible. Her first visit had been tough. The city streets wound with no rhyme or reason, turning and twisting where it was needed. The streets were crowded and filthy. Any and all waste was thrown out into the streets, whether it be food scraps, rags, shit, anything seemed to be fair game. The buildings ranged in quality from sturdily built and well maintained, to shacks that were barely on board on top of another. Anne hated the stink, the crowding, the noise. There were similar things back home, but at least there were parts of Sankt-Peterburg where one could find peace and quiet, but here there was no escape, no peace. When she finally made it to the docks and located the Gierfaut, Chevalier was there commanding his crew, when he saw her approaching he waved to her from the deck.  
“Bienvenu, Anne. you’re ready to leave, I trust?” Anne nodded, Chevalier was an older man with a heavy french accent, he had the beginnings of grey hair at the base of his scalp and wrinkles were beginning to show on his face. She climbed aboard the Gierfaut, dodging the crew as they bustled about. She and Chevalier ducked below deck and he escorted her to her quarters, a little room tucked away in the stern.

Chevalier left to continue his work with his crew. Anne opted to stay in her room, she wasn’t a sailor and didn’t know what she could do to help. She sat down on her bed and pulled out her notebooks. Anne had been trying to piece her research back together after losing the bulk of it in Haiti. She’d rewritten multiple pages on different pieces, what their effects were, where they were last seen and who had them, but there were still massive gaps in her memory. Adewale wouldn’t tell her how long he’d had the box before it was lost to templars, and even then she wasn’t sure who had had it before him. Anne groaned, whether it was in Russia, England or the Americas, Assassins all had the same fear. The petrifying terror of betrayal. It had happened many times before, brothers and sisters turning on one another for the sake of power. Anne herself had witnessed it years ago. She was only five at the time, her father had snatched her from her bed in the middle of the night and carried her out into the cold. The snow had salted his bedraggled hair as he lifted her onto a horse and rode with her out of Sankt-Peterburg and into the countryside. They met her mother in an inn tucked away in a safe house in the countryside. When she saw Anne and her father walk in the door, she burst into tears and scooped her up in her arms.  
Anne hadn’t discovered what had happened until years later. Bisset, a Frenchman that had immigrated to Russia when he was a boy, had betrayed them to the templars. If her father had been a few hours late, Anne would have been caught in the fires that raged through Sankt-Peterburg that night. Frustrated, Anne closed her notebook and plopped her head down on the pillow. She stared up at the ceiling and wondered how long it would take for her to finish her work here, her father’s voice echoed in her head ‘Patience, Annushka’, he’d say. ‘You must wait for the right opportunity, Never before or after.’

“Patience” she meditated.

\-----

“We only have one lead left, Shay,” Liam said. “let’s hope it brings us closer to the artifacts.” Shay and Liam had been at sea for roughly a month now. Going from place to place, meeting with contacts and friends of Achilles in vain attempts to find any trace of the precursor relics or the people that might have them.

“So Achilles tasked you with this mission?” Shay asked.  
“No” he responded bluntly. “He tasked me to task you. We need to find what was stolen from Makandal, Shay. you have to recover the precursor box and manuscript. This is your mission.” Shay didn’t look at Liam directly, only glancing at him from the corner of his eye as he kept the bulk of his attention on the sea ahead of him.  
“And what’s yours?” Shay asked.  
“To watch your arse,” Liam said. Shay sighed,  
“Achilles doesn’t really trust me, does he?”. Liam gave his friend a sympathetic look, “Give it time, Shay” he said. “Do this for him, for us, and you’ll do much more than earn his trust.” Shay fell silent for a moment before continuing.  
“Liam, do you know what Achilles writes about?” he started “I see him in his office all the time, bent over his papers.”  
“He keeps records and accounts. He studies what little is known about the pieces of Eden, and of course, he corresponds with assassins on other continents.”. Shay rolled his eyes,  
“‘Of course’? Liam! You can be a right horse’s arse when it comes to knowing everyone else knows the same as you!” Liam scoffed,  
“I cannot help if he wants me to be familiar with our counterparts in Europe and elsewhere”.  
“Said like his favorite son!” Shay said. Shay could feel Liam’s eyes boring into him, “Connor is his favorite and ONLY son.” Shay clicked his tongue,  
“And Achilles’ heir. Connor may inherit the house, but you’ll be mentor”. Liam hummed, Shay could hear a bit of hopefulness in his voice.  
“We’ll see,” Liam said quietly.  
“Whatever you say.” Shay started, “Prince regent of the assassins!”. Liam had to stifle a laugh,  
“You call me that again, I’ll throw you in the ocean!” Shay chuckled and the two fell into a comfortable silence. They were headed for Port la Joye, a fortified town on the shore, where Anne and Chevalier would be waiting for them. Shay thought of Anne, and what Liam said about Achilles communicating with other assassins.  
“Liam?” Shay asked. “Did Achilles know Anne before she got here?” Liam looked suspiciously at Shay.  
“No, I don’t think so. He probably knows her father, though.”  
“And who’s her father?” Shay asked.  
“Dimitri Lebedev, I believe his name is. From what Achilles tells me, he’s a Shrewd and strategic mentor. If Anne is anything like him, we’ll have little trouble dealing with these Templars.” Shay hummed.  
“How long do you reckon she’ll be with us?” he asked.  
“As long as it takes to recover the artifacts, I assume. Why?” Shay shrugged,  
“no reason”. Liam rolled his eyes, Shay decided not to start that conversation, not when they were so close to La Joye. When they arrived, Shay found Anne and Chevalier standing together close to the docks, Chevalier was talking with the harbormaster as Anne idly listened. She happened to spot him approaching and gave him a little smile. He smiled back as he joined them.

“Trust me, you will sell those lobsters by the ton in France,” Chevalier told the harbormaster as he turned to greet Shay. “Ah! The cabbage farmer returns! Come.” the three of them began walking back towards the Morrigan as Chevalier continued. “We have a lead on that curious manuscript” he whispered.  
“I’d be surprised if you can read it,” Shay said at full volume. Chevalier stopped dead in his tracks.  
“No one can read it imbécile. This is why the templars are taking so long with it. But one of our allies has caught a glimpse of their work.” the trio stopped as Shay asked  
“A pirate?” Chevalier shook his head,  
“A spy who worked with the pirates. We set sail for Anticosti. That should prove a good test for this cesspit you call a ship.”

The three boarded the Morrigan a few hours later. Liam and Chevalier took their places next to Shay at the wheel as Anne disappeared below deck. When the remaining crew that had been onshore finally returned, they set sail.  
“How trustworthy are the pirates?” Shay asked.  
“I consider them brothers, Shay. When the time comes, they will aid and help us fight the templars!” Chevalier said, “If only the Rosbif would realize the templars were pulling their strings…” Shay stayed silent for a moment before responding  
“Are the templars really in control in the colonies?” he asked.  
“Not quite.” Chevalier said “But their influence reaches far and wide”  
“And what about the spy we’re meeting?” Shay asked. Chevalier shook his head  
“You need not worry about Le Chasseur. He is loyal to the brotherhood. As it happens he also has ‘friends’ in both the French AND English fleets.” Chevalier continued “And he knows more about what goes on in these waters than you could ever hope to learn” Shay rolled his eyes and silently wished Anne had taken Chevalier’s place, at least she doesn’t treat him like he’s useless.

“So Liam,” Shay began, “What can you tell me about Adewale? You obviously admire the man” Liam’s voice softened when he spoke  
“Aye. I had the honor of working with him once. I’ve never known anyone who’d one so much for our cause. But it’s much more than that.”. Chevalier interrupted,  
“Adewale was already a legend before joining the brotherhood. He was a pirate! The scourge of the west indies! Rubbing elbows with the likes of Blackbeard, Woodes Rodgers, and Calico Jack Rackham!” Shay looked over at Chevalier  
“Calico who?” he asked. Chevalier rolled his eyes,  
“Oh read a book, would you?”  
Shay rolled his eyes and continued his conversation with Liam. the three of them talked idly as Shay sailed northward. Liam interrupted Shay mid-sentence,  
“There Captain!” he said pointing out on the horizon. “An English vessel! And she looks to be in trouble” Shay took out his spyglass and sure enough, there was a Royal Navy Schooner anchored near the shoreline ahead of them.  
“That's fine indeed, we should aid her journey to the bottom of the sea.”

“Now let's not be too hasty!” Liam said “She’s full of crown cargo!” a wicked grin spread across Shay’s face.  
“It is a good day to lighten king George’s pockets”.

“Be careful.” Liam cautioned, “A few shots should be enough to cripple her, too much damage and she’ll go down with all souls... And all spoils.” Shay was already changing course when he responded

“We could board and loot her before the crew knows what hit them” When the Morrigan was close enough, Shay ordered the crew to open fire. The Schooner’s crew had been preoccupied with repairing their ship and hadn’t thought the Morrigan would have attacked them. The Schooner’s crew scrambled to their posts as the Morrigan fired her cannons. Their efforts were useless, though. The Schooner was already damaged and it only took a few more shots before the fires were visible in her hull. Shay ordered a ceasefire and bellowed  
“Come on, men! The spoils are ours!” he unsheathed his sword and shouted, “For the Morrigan!” Shay and his men leaped from one ship to the other, landing on the Schooner’s deck. Most of them surrendered quickly, and the few that fought back were horrifically outnumbered. Shay felt his stomach sink when he saw one of the Schooner’s crew hop the gap over to the Morrigan. His eyes scanned his surroundings, but he saw nobody else doing the same. He looked back at the invading sailor, he darted around the deck as he did his best not to get stabbed.

Shay kept his eyes on the invader as the rest of his crew finished off the remaining defenders. He froze when he saw Anne creep out from below deck. He started to make his way back to the Morrigan as he watched her slowly stalk him from just outside his field of vision. Anne carefully crept closer to him until she was so close she could reach out and touch him. Shay’s feet made contact with the Morrigan’s deck when Anne sunk her hidden blade into the invader’s side. The poor man didn’t even realize she was there. His corpse crumpled to the floor as Shay caught his breath. Anne stared down at the man as he bled out on the deck. Her eyes only snapped away from him when the battle cries of Shay’s crew were heard. The last of the Schooner’s crew had surrendered and Shay and his men were free to loot.

The damage to the Morrigan was superficial at worst, so Shay chose to strip the Schooner for any valuables before moving on. Shay ducked below deck to see what could be taken. There were tools and supplies that would be useful in the coming voyage, foodstuffs and things of that sort. His crew was carrying them out and storing them on the Morrigan. Shay poked his head into the Captain’s quarters and took a look around. The quarters were fairly sparse, nothing Shay could make use of. He saw something glimmer out of the corner of his eye. A steel dagger lay on the bedside table, safely tucked away in a leather sheath. He picked up the blade and removed it from the sheath to get a better look at the blade. The metal the blade was forged from was something Shay had never seen. It was dark below deck, but even in the low light, Shay could clearly see the dark lines that swirled around the blade, contrasting against the lighter background. The blade itself was seated in an ebony grip wrapped in waxed leather, and it had a smooth, round pommel with a dark red-orange gemstone inlaid in it. Shay eyed the stunning weapon, his fingertips lightly running over the blade. He heard Liam call his name above deck. He snapped from his musings and returned the blade to its sheath and clipped it to his belt. Shay rushed above deck and returned to the wheel of the Morrigan.  
“The sea between here and Anticosti is rough, Captain,” Liam said. “We should strengthen the Morrigan before we go any further. There’s a harbormaster stationed nearby. We can spend our new wealth on improvements.”

“Good Idea, Liam,” Shay said as he began to change course.  
“Anticosti shouldn’t be far, keep us on course, Captain,” Liam advised. After a few minutes of silence, the Morrigan turned a corner and a small town came into view.

“There’s Percé Shay!” Liam pointed to the little town that rested on the shore. “A small fishing village”. Shay looked over at Liam,  
“Is this the place? I see nothing but fishermen and their gear?” Liam shrugged,  
“Percé and fishing go hand in hand, but it’ll suit our purposes well enough. The french fished these waters first, but king George is laying claim to more and more every year. The locals are caught in the middle.” Shay pitied the fishermen. Getting caught up in a war when they’re just trying to feed their families. The Morrigan docked in Percé. Shay gave his crew the all-clear to go ashore while he did business with the harbormaster. Anne, Liam, and Chevalier headed off with some of the crew to get drinks at the inn while Shay stayed behind. Shay spoke with the Harbormaster and arranged for the Morrigan’s hull and cannons to be improved in trade for a thousand British pounds. That number stung Shay, but the harbormaster wouldn’t budge. He reluctantly parted with his money and the Harbormaster gleefully promised him that the improvements would be done in a days’ time.

“My thanks for your trust, Captain!” the harbormaster said as they parted ways. Shay started to make his way towards the inn the others had gone to. He needed a drink or two to make him feel better about the money he’d just spent. When he walked in there weren’t many people there aside from his crew. Anne, Liam, and Chevalier were sitting together at a table tucked away in the corner. He bought a drink at the bar and went to join them. He pulled a chair up and sat down next to Anne. Chevalier gestured towards Shay as he sat down,  
“Like I told Shay, you need not worry about Le Chasseur! He’s loyal to the brotherhood, and his services are indispensable.” Anne hummed as she took a sip from her drink.  
“What’d he do to earn that nickname?” she asked.  
“Le Chasseur is good at finding things, the network he has built is vast enough to find anyone or anything that matters,” Chevalier said.  
“Let hope he can tell us something useful, then…” Anne muttered. Shay watched her as she stared morosely down at the mug in her hands. Shay took a swig of his own drink and asked  
“What’s got you so immersed in this search of ours? Is the Russian brotherhood interested in the manuscript and box, too?”  
Chevalier clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, Liam said nothing. Anne simply shook her head.  
“We all are, Shay. every brotherhood across the globe is keeping their eyes and ears open. Achilles is constantly receiving letters about Templar movements” Shay thought over what she’d said before continuing.  
“And how long’ll you be with us? I’m sure the Russian brotherhood is missing you.” Anne’s brow furrowed and she took a long chug of her drink, finishing it off.  
“As long as it takes. Whether that be a few months, or years.” the four of them continued chatting for a few hours, trading stories and jokes, Anne was quiet for a lot of it, keeping her eyes on the table. Chevalier said something about fishing and Liam’s face lit up.  
“That reminds me! Shay, do you remember that time you lost a bet and had to pierce your ears?” Anne snapped from her thoughts and stared at Shay.  
“Wait what?” she asked. Shay hung his head and nodded with a grin.  
“Yeah, I remember. I couldn’t find a needle so I had to use a fishing hook.” Anne started snickering  
“No! Really?” Shay nodded again, He and Liam were laughing now too. “Wait,” she said. “What was the bet?” Shay’s laughter died a bit.  
“Nah, I don’t even remember.” he lied. Liam chimed in  
“Well I do!” he turned to Anne “I made a bet Shay wouldn’t steal a bag of apples from an orchard, Shay climbed the wall to get the apples, only to be run down by guard dogs!” Anne burst out laughing along with Liam and Chevalier. “God as my witness!” Liam continued. “Shay flew back over that wall!”  
“And that’s why I pierced my ears with a fishhook.” Shay finished.  
Anne rested her hand on his forearm as she burst out in a renewed spring of laughter. Shay smiled at her, glad she wasn’t so gloomy anymore. He went back to the bar for another round of drinks before returning. Soon fishermen began to come to shore. The Inn grew more crowded and noisy. Shay was considering getting a room and going to sleep, but that plan was scratched when a quartet of musicians started to play in the corner. The drummer set a beat as the guitarist and violinist followed along. The idea solidified in his head when the flute started playing. Emboldened by all the laughter and booze, Shay rose from his seat and offered his hand to Anne.

“Dance with me? He asked. She looked up at him with a flushed face, probably from the drink, he thought as she took his hand and rose from her own seat. She lightly rested her hand on his shoulder and one of his hands barely ghosted on her hip. She pulled him along as they spun to the beat, smiling all the way. Shay’s hands tightened their grip a bit as they went on, spinning and twirling faster and faster. The world seemed to fall away for a moment and it was just Shay and Anne, alone together, dancing to a song they’d never heard before. Then Shay fell. His feet had gotten tangled with a chair leg and sent him tumbling, taking Anne and the chair with him. The two lay there stunned for a minute, the music stopped and there were countless pairs of eyes on them as Anne burst into laughter and wobbled to her feet. She reached down and helped to pull him to his feet. The two walked back to their table and plopped in their seats, their laughter fading. Anne started up a conversation with Chevalier, but Liam remained silent, watching Shay out of the corner of his eye with a grin on his face.

One by one they all gradually split off from the group to get some sleep. When Shay climbed into bed, he thought of what was waiting for them at Anticosti, would Le Chasseur have the manuscript itself? Or maybe just who has it? Shay sighed into his pillow with a faint smile on his face as he sunk deeper into sleep. He just hoped Le Chasseur had something for them.

The improvements for the Morrigan were completed the next afternoon. They set sail for the fort on Anticosti as soon as they could.  
“We should resume course to Anticosti, Captain,” Liam said.  
“Indeed” Chevalier responded, “Le Chasseur is waiting for us.” they left port at Percé and sailed northward for a few hours. When the island came into view Chevalier pointed it out.  
“T̈here it is! Anticosti! Le Chasseur should be there.” Shay hummed and focused on sailing. When they docked Anne, Chevalier and Liam went directly to meet with Le Chasseur while Shay assisted his crew. When Shay made it up to the fort, the door was slightly ajar. As he walked in Chevalier and Liam were talking with someone while Anne leaned over a table, observing some maps.  
“Take a look at this!” the stranger said. “I ‘borrowed’ these plans from a Royal Navy ship of the line, they are like nothing I have ever seen!” the man handed Chevalier a rolled up piece of parchment.  
“Good,” Chevalier said.  
“We could use some more powerful weapons.” Chevalier looked back at Shay with a barely concealed sneer.  
“Le Chasseur, allow me to present our… associate, Shay Cormac.” Anne’s head craned up to look at Chevalier.  
“Gentlemen!” Le Chasseur started, “I have news! On the same ship, I spied the manuscript you seek. It was written in an exotic language I have never seen, and was full of drawings of plants and animals out of an opium dream!” Chevalier cut him off, “What, there were no charts? No… no maps?” Le Chasseur shook his head and simply said:  
“No. there may have been some kind of code, but neither I nor the Rosbifs could crack it.” Liam interjected, “Where’s the manuscript now?” Le Chasseur turned to Liam,  
“The man who brought it said a man named ‘Washington’ sent him.” Shay’s face lit up  
“I know that name! He’s an important Templar, isn’t he?”  
“He is” Liam agreed “Lawrence Washington has great ambitions that the Templars have helped fulfill” Liam turned to Shay.  
“Let’s return and find him.” Liam turned to leave, followed by Shay, Chevalier, and Anne. the four of them left to return to the Morrigan, leaving Le Chasseur alone.  
It was time to return to the mentor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case you didn't know: 'Le Chasseur' is french for 'The Hunter' hence Anne and Chevalier's exchange about the name. And I do remember seeing somewhere Shay canonically had his ears pierced, but couldn't find it again. if I do find it in the future, the links to the screenshots will be posted.  
Found it! https://sunsetagain.tumblr.com/post/134984691985/can-you-imagine-a-kid-shay-got-his-ears-pierced  
you can clearly see a piercing scar in the screenshot on the right.


	7. A Quick One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: Shay Learns about the Russian brotherhood and goes after Laurence Washington.
> 
> Up Next: Anne goes after her own target and Shay has regrets.

After meeting with Le Chasseur, they decided to return to Achilles as soon as possible. They set sail the same day. Chevalier chose to stay behind, so Anne took his place next to Shay. 

“So what’s our next heading?” Shay asked Liam. 

“Wherever Laurence Washington docks his arse,” he said. 

“Liam!” Shay chuckled, “You’re finally getting into the spirit of things!”. Liam rolled his eyes, 

“He’s a Templar and a politician. What’s there to like?” he said. 

“Good! Let's set sail!” Shay responded. Anne watched Shay as he effortlessly steered the Morrigan out of the port while commanding his crew. 

“Where does Chevalier get off ordering us around like that?” Shay asked. “We’re assassins, Same as him!”. 

“He has more experience and knows these waters better, that makes him in charge in these parts,” Liam said. Shay rolled his eyes 

“Well, he commands me around back at the homestead too! Is he a truffle pig to know land better than me?” he asked. 

“Show some respect, Shay” Liam scolded. 

“He ought to respect me, Liam! I stick my neck out as much as any of us!” Shay said bitterly. 

“Yeah, twice as much, it seems.” Liam said, “See, that’s just the thing, Chevalier hangs back and thinks before making a decision. His experience has earned him that right”. Shay’s grip on the wheel tightened. 

“I wonder how much more experience I’ll need before I can decide when to wake up or take action!” he huffed. 

“I swear, Liam, sometimes I feel I was more grown-up when we were children! Sure, we slept rough and scrounged for meat, but at least we decided where, and when!” Liam had no rebuttal, he just stared ahead at the sun setting over the horizon. 

A familiar burning feeling settled in Anne’s stomach. It reminded her of the Russian brotherhood. Council members and other assassins denying her access to documents for no explained reason, or people brushing off her advice only for someone else to tell them the same thing she’d tried to. Her own father had done this before. This kind of treatment from others was infuriating at worst, but her father’s reluctance to trust her had cut deeper than any of it. Anne had pushed herself to her limits trying to gain their confidence. She felt she had to prove herself to them. She’d trained with a sword until her hands bled, she’d spent countless hours with language tutors, she’d read every treatise on precursor research she could get her hands on. Even after all the sleepless nights and bloodshed she’d suffered in the name of their shared cause, Anne was ignored anyway. The fact that the council had allowed her to go to Haiti in the first place was a miracle. When she’d heard of the possibility of a piece of Eden residing there she’d begged the council to let her go on the brotherhood’s behalf. She was fully fluent in French and English, she’d been studying the pieces for years, and the voyage wouldn’t interrupt any assignments they’d given her because they’d refused to give her any in the first place! She’d been pleading her case to one of them as they hurried down a hallway, only for him to turn and condescendingly explain that they’d ‘already found a more suitable candidate’ and that she should ‘stick to the homefront’. When she asked her father that night she discovered that they had found a candidate. The council had approached Egor Bobrov about the project and he’d eagerly accepted. She and Egor had studied under the same French tutor for a few weeks before he started getting touchy. Even when she was forced to see him the only thing she heard him say to her in French was ‘Voulez Vous coucher?’. It was only when he’d come down with the french pox did he pull away from the project. And even then her father needed to convince the council on her behalf. Her father saw her off on the day she left for Haiti, his last words to her echoed in her mind: 

“The council is depending on you, Annushka. Don’t disappoint us.” 

Anne felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you all right?” Shay asked. “You look like you’re ready to murder someone!”. Anne took a deep breath and smiled half-heartedly. 

“I’m alright. Thank you, Shay.” he looked at her skeptically as his hand returned to the wheel. The three of them looked silently towards the sea. 

“We should meet with Achilles before going after Washington. I’m sure he’d like to stay up to date on this situation” Anne said finally. 

“A good idea,” Shay said. Liam nodded “Achilles said to meet him in Two Bends if we found anything.”. 

“Two Bends it’ll be, then!” Shay said. 

\-----

It was near eleven at night when Shay handed off the wheel to one of his crew. Liam and Anne had gone hours ago. When he ducked below deck the bulk of his crew had fallen asleep, the rest were quietly talking amongst themselves. Shay got an apple from the kitchen and meandered through the ship. Eventually, he found Anne sitting at a table. She was bent over a set of books, her forehead was resting in the palm of her hand as she glared down at them. Shay walked up and sat in the chair opposite her. 

“Hey, Anne. how are you?” he asked. She looked up from her work and smiled at him. 

“I’m alright.” she said, “And you?” he shrugged and took another bite from his apple, 

“I’m well.” he glanced down at her notebooks. “What’re you workin’ on?” he asked. Anne’s brow furrowed as she looked down at them. 

“I’ve been trying to piece my research back together since I got here. It’s not been working out very well, as you can see.”. Shay looked down at the books and then back to Anne. 

“No. I can’t see. Should there be more?” Anne scoffed. 

“Four more! I had eight when I got to Haiti. I’ve managed to put another two together, but I’m nowhere near what I had!” she glared down at her books, with a look that made his stomach twist. Shay kept his eyes on her, he felt like he’d seen the look on her face before, but he couldn’t quite place it. He did the math in his head. She said she’d been working on her books since she got to the colonies, she arrived in mid-march, and it was early July now… 

“Four months?” he asked. Anne looked up at him, 

“What?” she asked. 

“You’ve been workin’ on these for four months?” she realized what he was asking and nodded. Shay thought for a minute, stood up and gestured for her to follow. 

“Come on,” he said as he started walking. He heard her stutter and get up to follow him. 

She followed him above deck, the stars shone brightly in a clear sky above them and the ocean was smooth as glass. Anne caught up and walked at his side. They were silent for a bit before Anne spoke. 

“Shay, why are we here?” she asked. Shay shrugged, 

“Well, I thought you could use a break? You spend so much time bent over your work, maybe you’re having so much trouble with it ‘cause your head isn’t clear?” the two stopped and Shay leaned on the railing on the edge of the deck. Anne followed suit 

“I appreciate it.” She said. “But I really need to get my research back together. The council wouldn’t let me bring any other resources from Russia, and I would like to have as much as I can when we find the pieces.”. Shay cocked an eyebrow 

“Why wouldn’t they let you bring anythin’ else?” he asked. Anne shrugged. 

“A good question!” she said. “I remember them muttering something about not wanting to ‘lose’ precious materials. I think they expected something like this to happen. I had no choice but to copy what I could before departing.”. Shay hummed and the two fell into silence for a moment. Shay looked down at Anne, her face had fallen into the same look she’d had earlier that day. He couldn’t quite tell if it was extreme concentration or frustration. The puzzle pieces suddenly clicked together in his minds He leaned over and nudged her with his shoulder. 

“You okay?” he asked. She shook herself from her thoughts and looked up at him. 

“Of course,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”.

“Well, you had that look. The same one from earlier today. Remember when I said you looked like you were ready to murder someone?” he asked. Anne nodded 

“I remember,” she said. 

“Well, that’s the look you had just now,” he said matter of factly. Anne said nothing, instead looking out into the endless expanse of ocean before them. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Shay asked. Her shoulders slouched forward and she crossed her arms in front of her as she leaned on the railing. 

“Not particularly. Why do you want to know?” she asked. Shay scratched at the back of his head. 

“Well, eh. Talking can help, no? It’s better than keeping it bottled up at least?” Anne closed her eyes and sighed. 

“My brotherhood doesn’t trust me,” she said bluntly. “Or at the very least most of the people in charge don’t.”. Shay’s brow furrowed.

“Why do you say that?” he asked. Anne laughed bitterly.

“Almost every interaction I’ve had in the past half-decade!” she said. “The Moskva council controls the library that houses most of our knowledge on precursor artifacts. They rarely let me in and they’ve never been anything but defensive and rude when they did.”. The frustration in her voice was apparent. “They blantanly favor Assassins from their own city, and they make the rest of us run around in circles and jump through hoops like circus animals just to get a word in! And that’s not even touching on all the internal politics and power plays! How are we to compete with the Templars if this is how we treat our own!” Anne groaned and buried her face in the palm of her hands. Shay stayed silent as she composed herself. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I went on a bit of a rant there”. 

“It’s okay,” Shay said. “I understand how you’re feelin’” Anne laughed half-heartedly. 

“So I’ve heard,” she said. She closed her eyes and sighed. “You were right, though. I do feel a bit better”. Shay smiled, 

“I knew you would!” he said. She looked up and met his eyes for a moment before her eyes darted away to watch the waves. Shay edged a little closer to her. She made no effort to widen the gap. 

“I know Chevalier made his beliefs about you clear,” she said. “And I know Assassins aren’t very quick to trust. We’ve been betrayed to many times to afford that luxury.” she turned to him and rested her hand on his forearm. “But I’m glad you’re with us. And I’m sure the others are, too, even if they don’t make it obvious,” she said. Shay smiled down at her, he covered her hand with one of his and squeezed it gently. 

“Thank you,” he said. She didn’t say anything, she just nodded and smiled. Neither of them looked away this time. Shay’s eyes glanced from her lips to her eyes and back again. He moved his hand and tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear. She leaned into his touch as he tilted her head up to meet his. Butterflies unfurled in his stomach. His eyes fell closed as he leaned down to meet her lips. Then the hatch that led to below deck slammed open and they jerked away from one another like they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t have. One of Shay’s crew stumbled up and dashed to the railing opposite them and he started violently throwing up overboard. Anne sighed and turned back to Shay. 

“I should probably go,” she said. “It’s late”. Shay nodded silently as she turned to go. He stood alone for a moment before heading back to his own quarters to rest up and quell his disappointment. 

\-----

They arrived in Two Bends the next afternoon. Shay went below deck to find Anne. He found her in the same place he’d found her the night before. As always she was bent over her notebooks. Shay lightly tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and looked up at him with heavy, half-lidded eyes. He cleared his throat before speaking. 

“We’ve arrived,” he said. She nodded and collected her books. She disappeared into her room to stow them away before joining Shay on deck to meet Achilles together. Shay, Anne, and Liam walked together through town, up the hill and onto a porch that overlooked the town. Shay glanced over at Anne as they went. She kept her eyes fixed on what was ahead of her. He wondered if he should ask about last night. He decided to wait until they were alone again, she probably wouldn’t appreciate him bringing that up in front of the others. Achilles sat at a table with Kassegowasse while Hope glared out over the horizon.

“The Templars desire to understand the nature of these artifacts,” Hope said. “Their spies have called on many doctors and other learned people in New York.”. Kassegowasse added, 

“They have also approached many tribes with questions.” Anne took her place next to Achilles while Shay and Liam stood off to the side.

“Yeah, they’ve been showing that manuscript far and wide,” Liam said. “No one can read the strange writing or understand the images. We do have a name though” he said.

“We learned that Laurence Washington sent out the manuscript,” Shay said. Achilles thought for a moment and rose from his seat. 

“Laurence Washington,” he muttered. “Businessman, Virginian politician and high ranking Templar…”. 

“Ah, yes, I recently heard he was back from the West Indies,” Hope said. “One of my men saw his Majordomo pick up a strange package.” Achilles smiled and pointed at Hope,

“Then that package will be delivered to him promptly!” he said as he turned towards Shay and Liam. “Shay, figure out what it is and find Washington, and when you do, learn all you can.” Achilles ordered. Liam stood and started to go, 

“I’ll prepare the Morrigan,” he said. Shay and Anne went to follow. 

“Anne will not be accompanying you,” Achilles said. Both Shay and Anne stopped in their tracks. “I have a different task for you,” he said to Anne. She inched closer to Achilles, he leaned forward and muttered “Hope’s men spotted something else recently.” he said. “There’s a Colonel that currently resides in New York that has Templar loyalties. He goes by the name ‘George Monro’. One of his letters was intercepted recently and it detailed the artifacts we seek. Find him. Learn what you can and make sure he never becomes a thorn in our side.” Anne nodded “Yes, mentor,”.

She said before turning to leave with Shay. 

“The best of luck to both of you!” Achilles called after them as they climbed back down the hill towards the Morrigan. Shay nudged her with his shoulder as they walked. 

“I make my own luck,” he said with a mischevious smile. Anne rolled her eyes and smirked. 

“So, I assume I’ll be dropping you off in New York?” Shay said. 

“I can find my own way there, Shay. Focus on Washington.” Anne responded. Shay cocked an eyebrow and turned towards her as they grew closer to the Morrigan. 

“You’re sure?” he asked. Anne met his gaze and nodded. 

“You said yourself. Achilles doesn’t trust you, focus on changing that, Shay.” the two had arrived at the docks. They stopped near the Harbormaster’s office. Shay rested his hand on her shoulder, 

“Good luck.” he said. She looked up at him and smiled, the softness of it made his heart flutter. She grabbed the hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. 

“Thank you,” she said. The two stood in silence for a moment, he never moved his hand away from her and she never let go of it. Shay wanted to ask her about last night, but before he could Anne snapped out of it and released his hand. 

“We should probably go.” She said. She started to go just as he’d opened his mouth to speak. 

“I’m sorry, were you going to say something?” she asked.

“I, uh” he stuttered. “No, nothing, just… good lu-” damn, why was his throat so dry? “I mean… stay safe,” he said. She smiled at him again. Shay felt his face heating up and he silently prayed to God he wasn’t blushing. 

“You too,” she said before turning to leave. He waited until he was sure she’d gone before groaning and burying his face in the palm of his hand. He heard somebody snickering behind him. He turned to see Liam leaning against the side of the building with his arms crossed. 

“Well played,” he said. Shay rolled his eyes as the two started walking towards the Morrigan. 

“Shut up, Liam” 

As they boarded the Morrigan, Liam spotted a small fleet of royal navy ships. The bulk of them seemed to be huddled protectively around a single frigate. 

“Well if we’ve any luck, that ship will lead us right to him!” Liam said. 

“I make my own luck, Liam! And Washington is running out of his!” the Morrigan pulled out of port and started to tail the little fleet. 

“There she is!” Shay said. “All right men, time to be quiet!” Shay’s crew continued their work as silently as they could. 

“Laurence Washington is a powerful businessman, a slave owner, and a leading Templar.” Liam said “We lost track of him about a year ago. I recently learned he was in Barbados. But I haven’t been able to confirm that. Now…” he trailed off. 

“Now you think he had something to do with the theft of the artifacts, don’t you?” Shay asked. Liam shrugged. 

“I wouldn’t put it past him. Haiti is a short voyage from Barbados, and his return to the colonies certainly coincides with the arrival of the artifacts.” Liam’s tone of voice suddenly became more serious. “We cannot let the Templars get control of these colonies,” he said. “Whatever happens, Laurence Washington must not survive.” Shay swallowed thickly. 

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” he said. They tailed the fleet for a while longer, the sun was setting over the horizon, casting a beautiful golden glow over everything. Liam grabbed Shay’s shoulder and pointed ahead of them 

“A blockade, Captain!” Liam groaned in frustration. “Ah, this won’t do.” he paused and thought for a moment. “Shay, you must follow that ship on land!” Shay nodded. “I’ll do that, you bring the Morrigan around another way.” 

“Aye Cap’n. Track that package, and find Washington!” Shay handed the wheel of the Morrigan off to Liam. he climbed onto the railing. Before he could jump Liam called after him. “Remember what I said Shay, Washington. Must. Die.” Shay nodded and jumped off, landing onshore. He immediately took off running. Staying low in the brush, Shay kept his eyes fixed on the frigate he’d been trailing. He followed until the ship came into port in what looked to be a town. The place was crawling with redcoats. Shay pulled his hood over his head and surveyed the area. He was relatively close to the docks, and there weren’t too many redcoats near him. He climbed down and took cover in a haystack. He watched and took note of the guard’s patrols. When it was safe to pass, he climbed from the hay and darted behind a house. Shay kept low to the ground as he crept closer to the docks. He looked up to see redcoats stationed on the rooftops as well. He huffed as he climbed to the roof. Shay patiently waited for the sniper to turn his back before silently approaching from behind. Once he was close enough Shay quickly covered the redcoat’s mouth and buried his hidden blade in the side of his neck. He crumpled in a bloody pile at Shay’s feet. He looked down and examined the docks below him. There were a few soldiers patrolling the area, but not too many. Shay waited for one of them to pass below him, he jumped down from his hiding place and used the man below him to break his fall. The combination of Shay’s blade being driven into his head and the weight of a grown man being dropped on him took the poor man out quickly. Shay ducked into some nearby bushes as another redcoat came by. Shay waited for him to pass before darting towards the ship. He climbed on and quickly dispatched the few that guarded it. 

Once the ship was empty, Shay searched for any evidence of the artifacts. 

“Now what’s this?” he pondered as he opened a crate on the deck. Inside the crate lay a rifle and a carton of ammunition. Shay began to load the weapon, but he was caught off guard by a stray soldier. 

“You there!” the man said. Shay panicked and shot the man with the mysterious rifle. The shot made a quiet ‘whoosh’ sound, but not the loud boom that a normal one would.

“Stay… where… you are…” the man said as he crumpled to the ground. Shay quickly inspected the body. The man wasn’t dead, he was clearly still breathing, he seemed to be asleep. 

“Impossible” Shay whispered. “It makes no sound…” He reloaded the rifle and hung it on his back. “Thanks for the present, master Washington.” Shay continued to bob and weave between houses, dodging redcoats and guard dogs until he made it to what looked like a garden party. Fireworks were being launched and people were drinking and talking amongst themselves. It would have been a pleasant affair if Shay hadn’t been here to commit murder. The sun had set completely, giving Shay the advantage of darkness. He carefully tucked behind walls and bushes, steering clear of the guards. Eventually, he found a young man speaking with an older one sitting at a table. 

“Brother, are you sure you shouldn’t be in bed?” the younger one asked. The older one waved his hand dismissively 

“I am fine, George!” the older one paused as he was approached by a small group of men. He looked from the group to George and back again. “Be a good host for my sake? Go down to the wine cellar and get something special for our guests?” the younger one nodded. 

“I will, gentlemen”. He turned to go and the older on burst out in a fit of coughing. When he finally finished he looked up to the men surrounding him. 

“My brother is a bright spot in a troubled land.” he said, “If I may make one request before I depart this life, please leave him in peace. He should have nothing to do with the troubles of the Templar cause!”. One of the men piped up, 

“we all respect that sentiment, sir.” the sick man nodded. 

“You have my thanks, gentlemen.” he turned to one of them, a short, chubby man nervously toying with his hands. “Master Smith, are you ready to leave on your voyage?” the nervous man replied, 

“Aye, sir, I shall return with answers.” 

He turned to a grizzled man with grey hair and a dignified posture, 

“Master Wardrop, are you likewise engaged with the manuscript?” the man nodded, 

“Yes sir, we will soon know it’s meaning.” the sick man nodded and coughed a bit more. 

“Then I bid you take your leave.” the men turned to go and he burst out into another coughing fit. It must be Washington. The poor man could barely stand on his own two feet… 

“You’d better be right about him, Liam,” Shay muttered to himself. “Because I’m about to murder a dying man…”. Shay climbed up onto a nearby rooftop, dispatching a sniper in the process. Shay sat and waited until Washington, followed by two guards were out in the open. Shay took his new rifle and loaded it with another type of odd ammunition. He put one of Washington’s guards in his sights and fired. The Guard seemed unaffected for a moment, but soon enough he looked towards his compatriot and stabbed him with his bayonet. This started a fight between him and a few other guards in the surrounding area. Shay kept his eyes on Washington as he hobbled away from the skirmish. Shay quickly climbed down off of the roof and stalked him. The second he was far enough away from any witnesses, Shay emerged from the shadows and sunk his blade into Washington’s side and dragged him behind one of the buildings. 

“You are too late, assassin!” he wheezed. Shay rolled his eyes, 

“It’s never too late to ruin Templar plans, master Washington.” he whispered back. He tried to respond but was interrupted by a cough, 

“ah, but my plans are already in motion. Even leading you here has given my allies time to escape…” he coughed some more before continuing, “thank you… for making my end… a quick one…” he said before he lost consciousness from the blood loss. 

“And thank you for revealing your master plan, you scheming snake!” Shay said as he rose to leave. He needed to find the Morrigan and get out of here, fast. Guards will come looking for Washington and Shay can’t be anywhere near here when that happens. Shay looked back at him one last time, his stomach twisted at the sight. He shook his head and started to run. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something I noticed while watching a playthrough of Rogue: Shay seems to be a very physically affectionate person. if you watch what he does during the cutscenes (Especially while he's with the brotherhood) he makes a good deal of physical contact with people he considers friends. (Hope, Liam, Le Chasseur) mostly just prolonged handshakes and shoulder taps, but I wouldn't be surprised if this would escalate with somebody he's romantically involved with.
> 
> another thing: The French pox is a contemporary term for Syphilis.


	8. White Wax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: Anne finds her target while Shay deals with the aftermath of Washington's assassination 
> 
> Up Next: Anne catches up to Monro and meets the assassins back at the homestead.

Anne stepped lightly onto the New York docks, she’d replaced her Assassin robes with a Caraco, skirt, and apron, she’d attract less attention this way. Her dress was simple, with a white apron and scarf covering an orange jacket and grey skirt. At least now she’d found an excuse to replace that damned shift. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and covered with a simple white cap. She’d taken passage with a merchant ship passing through Two Bends about a day after Shay and Liam had left. It had been rash for her to turn down Shay’s offer to take her to New York, but after what had happened the night before, Anne thought it would be best for her to spend some time away from him. Her stomach fluttered when she thought back to that night. She’d done a poor job tying back her hair and hadn’t noticed some of it had escaped until Shay was gently brushing it back behind her ear. The tenderness of it surprised her a bit, she’d grown so used to his cocksure attitude that when he dropped it, she was caught off guard. Anne was grateful for the opportunity to slip away and collect her thoughts when one of Shay’s crew interrupted them. She squirreled herself away in a desolate corner of the ship and paced back and forth until she’d worn a hole in the floor. 

She couldn’t deny the feelings that gripped her whenever they were near one another. The warm contentedness she felt when he trained with her and listened to her when she talked about her father, the pride she felt when she saw the awestruck look he had when he watched her kill a man on the Morrigan’s deck, the butterflies she felt when she noticed the sweetness in his eyes when he asked her to dance with him in Percé. When she felt the light brush of his fingertips against her cheek as he brushed her hair back all those feelings came flooding back at once, and she wanted more. At that moment the whole world ceased to exist, she’d forgotten why there were there or what they were after, all that mattered to Anne was Shay. When the tenuous moment was broken and reality came crashing back her stomach started doing backflips. There was no denying it, but she couldn’t pursue it either. She needed to return to Russia once she found and documented the precursor sites. If she got involved with him now, it would only end in disappointment. 

Anne shook herself from her thoughts, she shouldn’t be thinking about Shay right now, she needed to focus on finding Monro. She stalked the area until sundown when the area was more or less desolate. She crept closer to the courier’s station. If luck was on her side one of the colonel’s letters would be there and she could find a lead on him. She pawed through the endless piles of paper, all the while keeping her head on a swivel. Eventually, she found a letter sealed with red wax. She took a gamble and broke the seal to read the letter. 

“Colonel,

I’ve departed for Europe, as of the eighteenth of July, with our package in hand. God willing, I will return with the answers we seek. I will write again once I’ve arrived in England. May the father of understanding guide us. 

-Samuel Smith”

  
  


Anne sighed and tucked the letter into her apron pocket. It wasn’t much, it didn’t tell her where Monro lived, or where he’d be, and she already knew Smith had already left the colonies. She grumbled and went to dig through the remaining letters. Her heart seized when she heard footsteps and saw the light of an approaching lantern. Anne scrambled to get the scattered letters back into their original places and slipped away, her skirts disappearing behind a corner as the front door was opened. She hurried down the street, occasionally throwing glances over her shoulder. She spotted a pair of redcoats hurrying their way away from the courier’s office and ducked into an Inn. She rented a room and practically threw her money at the innkeeper. Anne hurried to her room, she closed the door behind her and took a deep breath as she rested her forehead against the wooden door. She took a few more breaths to calm herself before she sank to the floor and fished the letter from her pocket. She read Smith’s words over and over, there wasn’t anything else written on the page, nothing to indicate where Monro would be. Anne groaned at her stupidity, she should have left the letter with the courier and followed him to Monro. She couldn’t return the letter tonight, the guards were bound to notice the letters had been tampered with. She could slip the letter back in tomorrow morning, or she could deliver it herself. Anne rose to her feet and tucked the letter away back in her apron. She’d sleep on the idea, she decided. She yawned as she kicked off her shoes and stripped down to her shift. She plopped into bed and closed her eyes as she fell into a dreamless sleep

_________

  
  


“Lawrence Washington is dead,” Shay said flatly. The Morrigan and her crew had just barely escaped the British vessels chasing after them. Liam looked over at him

“You look disappointed,” Liam said. Shay kept his eyes on the course ahead of them as he responded

“The sickly way that man looked, he would have been dead in a month anyway…” Shay said. “And two other Templars got away. They’re looking into the manuscript and box.” Liam’s face sank. 

“Did they have the artifacts?” he asked with a barely concealed concern. Shay shrugged. 

“I dunno, maybe? I can’t be sure…” he said. Liam hummed and his posture relaxed a bit. 

“Then you did what was right by the brotherhood. Cheer up, Shay” he consoled, “It’s a rare day we can sow such chaos among the Templars!” 

“Perhaps” Shay conceded. “But to hear Washington speak, it didn’t sound like they’d be too put out by the loss,” he said. 

“Well, that’s what he’d want you to think!” Liam pointed out. The two stood in silence as Shay focused on steering the ship through a narrow passage. 

“Where to?” Shay asked. 

“The homestead.” Liam said “Achilles will be expecting us. We’ll meet Anne and Chevalier there too, to discuss our next move.” Shay hummed and kept the ship on course. 

“What’s with you two, anyway?” Liam asked. 

“What?” Shay asked, “With me and who?” Liam rolled his eyes, 

“You know damn well! What’s with you and Anne?” Liam asked. Shay sighed. He was still kicking himself over that night. He hadn’t been thinking with the right head and now he’d made a mess of their friendship. Still, he couldn’t quell the feeling he got when he thought back to her face, the peaceful smile and soft look in her eyes. He wished she’d look at him like that again, but he wouldn’t tell Liam this, of course. 

“What about her?” Shay asked. Liam rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t play dumb, now! I know you’re sweet on her!” he teased. 

“What makes you say that?” Shay asked. Liam cast a suspicious look at him. 

“Percé makes me say that! You were makin’ eyes at her all night!” Liam said. Shay shook his head, 

“I wasn’t ‘makin’ eyes’ at anyone, Liam! I was havin’ a conversation with a friend, nothin’ more!” Shay insisted. Liam rolled his eyes, 

“Then did you notice the barmaid?” he asked. Shay’s brow furrowed as he tried to remember who Liam was talking about. 

“What barmaid?” Shay asked. Liam burst out laughing. 

“The barmaid that was tryin’ to get your attention all night? She passed us nine times at least tryin’ to catch your eye!” Shay strained his memory, running through that night over and over and he still couldn’t remember a barmaid. 

“I don’t remember any barmaid, Liam! Are you sure she wasn’t lookin’ at you?” Shay asked. Liam shook his head. 

“Nah, cause if she was lookin’ at me, I’d have caught some skirt that night. And she didn’t go anywhere near us after you started dancin’ with Anne.” Liam pointed out. 

“Really?” Shay asked, dumbfounded. Liam chuckled again. 

“Christ alive, Shay! I haven’t seen you this hung up on a woman since-” Liam cut himself off abruptly and the two fell into a tense silence. “I’m sorry.” he said a minute or so later, “I didn’t mean-” 

“It’s okay” Shay cut him off. He didn’t even have to say her name and Shay knew exactly who he was talking about. Shay had known Clara Walsh since they were children, they’d played in the muddy streets together, along with Liam, Anthony, and a few others. He’d once tried and failed to fight off some older boys that had been picking on her, and at a Christmas party when they were fifteen, Clara was his first kiss. For four years, if he wasn’t at sea with his father, he was with Clara. He’d taken it into his head that he loved her, and perhaps he did. When they were nineteen, he lost his virginity to Clara. Before the year was out he’d asked her to marry him. The joy he felt when she wrapped him up in her arms and kissed him over and over is something he hasn’t felt before or since. A few days later Shay went out to sea with his father. When Shay’s father found out about his engagement he was ecstatic. He took Shay into his cabin and privately gave Shay his rings. Shay’s own mother had died in childbirth and since then his father had worn their wedding bands around his neck, when he discovered his son was soon to be wed, he handed them down to Shay. He’d been at sea for three months at most. 

When he came back to shore, Ms.Clara Walsh had become Mrs.Clara O'Field. She’d tenuously explained to him that she didn’t want to marry a man that’d be at sea half the time, and for the past three years a mutual friend of theirs, Anthony O'Field, had been ‘keeping her company’ while Shay was at sea. Shay barely made it home before he curled up in a ball and wept like a child. Shay had nobody to console him, his aunt had died two years prior, he had no idea where Liam was, and his father had left him on shore to recover as he went back out to sea. Shay spent months picking up the pieces, only to have to start again when one of his father’s friends brought news that the ship his father was working on had been caught in a storm and was likely never to return. In a matter of months, Shay had lost almost everyone he loved. He spent the next year drinking himself into a stupor, getting into fistfights and nursing hangovers. More than once his drunken hands have clumsily tried to tie a noose. There wasn’t a doubt in Shay’s mind, if Liam hadn’t reappeared and introduced him to Achilles, he’d be dead. 

Shay thought of Clara, then of Anne. He knew he shouldn’t get attached, she’d be returning to Russia soon enough. One night stands were one thing, but if he fell for Anne like he did Clara, he’d be breaking his own heart. Shay dragged himself from his thoughts and focused on the horizon ahead of him, the sun would be rising soon, then one of his crew would take over and he could get some sleep. 

__________

When Anne awoke the sun was well above the horizon and the city was buzzing with activity. She got dressed and carefully examined the letter. Anne set the letter flat against an end table beside a blank sheet of paper. Slowly and carefully she copied the letter, doing her best to mimic Smith’s handwriting. When she was done, she took the sharp edge of her hidden blade and carefully scraped the crimson wax away from the original letter. Once the bulk of it was gone, she replaced it and resealed both letters with the only wax available to her, while candle wax. She tucked the letters in her apron and left the Inn. Her disguise made it easy to move about in the city. She ducked into a shop and bought a wicker basket, some apples, cheese, and other foodstuffs. She covered it all with a white cloth and returned to the streets. She weaved through the crowds and assessed her options. She’d decided to return the letter to the courier’s office and trail him as he made his rounds, but decided to make a copy should that plan fall through. Anne kept her head down as she weaved through the rabble back to the office she stole the letter from. She didn’t have the luxury of darkness to hide her, instead of slipping the letter back into the bag, she decided to take a more practical approach. Anne dug a few coins from her apron pocket and posted the letter like a normal person. 

Once the letter was back where it belonged, Anne leaned against a building nearby and leisurely ate one of her apples. She patiently watched people milling about their business as she waited for the courier to go on his route, if luck was on her side, the courier would take her straight to Monro. The courier finally went on his route a few hours later. The bag he carried on his back looked to be almost as heavy as he was, Anne groaned, this could take a while. She trailed the courier from a distance, carefully blending with the crowd as she eyed up everyone he made contact with. Most were the usual fare, average people receiving letters from friends and family. Nobody that could pass for a military man, or the servant of one… Anne was close to splitting off and using her backup letter when the Courier stopped dead in his tracks and approached a man having a conversation with someone outside a church. She watched from afar as the three of them traded jokes for a minute before the courier handed a white-sealed letter to a man wearing a thick leather coat with red accents. Her heart jumped when she saw his sash, a long white strip of fabric tied around his waist, lined with crimson and ended with a four-sided cross. The man handed some money off to the courier before finishing his conversation. Anne decided to follow him as he walked off. The man was older, maybe in his early fifties, heavily armed and wore a powdered wig covered with a black tricorner hat. Anne was sure this was Monro, she could only imagine a Colonel would be armed, and how many men walked around with a templar cross on their person? 

He rushed down the streets, winding back and forth until he came to a sturdily built, red brick building, with white painted window sills and ivy climbing up the chimney. The man disappeared through the entryway, leaving Anne with a face and a location. She had her pray, now she only needed to harry it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry: To persistently carry out attacks on an enemy 
> 
> Caraco: A jacket-like garment worn by women during the 18th century. 
> 
> Here's a glossary of terms for garments I used for this chapter: https://www.history.org/history/clothing/women/wglossary.cfm
> 
> Here is the reference picture I used for Anne's dress: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/238690848977334674/


	9. Of Dreams and Morals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: Anne goes after Colonel Mono.
> 
> Up Next: Anne receives a letter and tells Shay about her heritage.

Anne’s hands twisted in her apron as she watched him. She’d been following Monro for days now. He left his residence early that morning. She watched him go about his schedule unaware of her presence. The first place he went that morning was what looked to be a small, run-down orphanage near the docks. Remnants of paint clung to the rotting wood, and broken glass jutted out of barren windows. Anne crept closer to see the raggedy children running about the property, most were barefoot and all were filthy and likely pest ridden. The Colonel was talking with an equally raggedy pair of women. Anne was too far away to hear the conversation and couldn’t get any closer without drawing attention to herself. The Colonel handed the two women a small bag held closed by a leather band. Whatever was in it, the women were ecstatic to receive, one of them looked like they were about to cry. They thanked him before he left, one of the women running inside the derelict building while the other continued speaking with the Colonel. Anne left the two at the front of the building and decided to find out what was in that bag. She rounded to the opposite side of the building and climbed in through a glassless window. A threadbare rug wrinkled beneath her shoes as she scanned the room around her. Candles lit the hallway that stretched from one side of the second floor of the building to another, the wooden floor creaked and groaned as someone walked up the rickety staircase. Anne hopped back over the windowsill and hung from it, her fingers only being visible as the woman passed her. Anne’s forearms burned as she pulled herself back over the windowsill and darted into another room stretching off the hallway. She ducked behind the door as a set of feet passed her by and echoed back down the stairs. 

Anne peeked her head into the hallway and crept towards where the woman had gone. The inside of the building was similar to the outside, peeling paint and rotting, splintering wood, threadbare cloth and doors barely hanging on their hinges. When Anne entered the room, she spotted the bag on an end table next to a bed, one of many. There were beds lined up in uneven rows with fraying, wafer-thin blankets scattered about. She snatched up the bag and tore it open. The little golden coins glinted innocently in the sunlight. She dug around in the coins, pawing around for anything that could be hidden beneath them. There was nothing, only gold. Bewildered, she tied the bag closed and scaled the building back down to street level. Circling back around, she listened as the two women thanked the Colonel profusely as he went to leave. She waited for them to disappear back into the building with the children before turning the corner to follow Monro. He hustled westward with Anne not far behind. He stopped and turned abruptly, turning towards a small church. The building was cocooned in scaffolding with only a small opening to let people in and out, and workers milled about, painting walls, replacing roof beams and other projects. The Colonel flagged down a man that looked to be a priest, who happily put down his work to speak with Monro. This time Anne joined the outskirts of a nearby gaggle of women. Their conversation was occasionally overpowered by the work going on around them.

“Going well, Colonel-” she picked out from the noise. “Your financing-”, “Life-saver”. Anne wasn’t sure what to make of it and she didn’t have time. She followed him until he ducked back into his home, unable to follow him directly, she scaled the side of the building and peeked through the windows. She saw well-kept rooms lit and warmed by sturdily built fireplaces. Eventually, the Colonel came into view. He was holding a black coat, the shoulders lined with crimson bands and embossed with the Templar cross. He wrapped the garment in a square of cloth and tied it off. He set the package down on a desk and scribbled a note on a piece of parchment, his forehead rested in the palm of his hand, his fingers massaging his temples like he had a headache, or was focusing on a difficult task. He tucked the note into the package and handed it off to a servant. She scurried away with it, but Monro himself stayed seated, both his hands cradling his head.

She made a split-second decision and left the Colonel to follow the servant, she’d come back later, he has to sleep sometime. The servant scuttled down the streets in the fading sunlight with Anne trailing not far behind. Anne’s stomach was twisting in her gut. She kept thinking back to earlier in the day, the money the Colonel handed out to the orphanage and that church. She was wracking her brain trying to think of what goals he could be trying to achieve. Was this in service to the Templars? Or was this to satisfy some other goal? The servant stopped at a house and adjusted the ties of the package before knocking on the door. A bearded man answered the knocking. His hair was grayed to the point where its original color was entirely absent and worry lines creased the edges of his mouth and forehead. His face fell when he heard whatever the servant was telling him, he took the package and muttered something before retreating back into the house. The servant left as well, but Anne didn’t bother following her. She disappeared into the crowd and wracked her brain as she headed back towards the Colonel’s home. What good could all this be doing him? She wondered. Why would a Templar of all people be shelling out money like this?.

It didn’t matter. Achilles’ words echoed in her mind: “Make sure he never becomes a thorn in our side.”. The only way to ensure that was death. Anne’s stomach started to twist and she nervously toyed with her apron. Did it have to be, though? After all, how could she kill a man that was literally rebuilding churches and feeding orphans? She couldn’t think about it anymore, she’d already arrived. The sun had since set and the stars were slowly beginning to blink into the sky. She scaled the same wall she had earlier and slipped in the window. The office was empty now, Anne went over to the desk and sifted through the papers. She found nothing useful, just bills, letters from superiors, and other things. Anne tiptoed into the hallway and popped into the room opposite the office. She froze when she saw the figure in the bed. The Colonel lay there and looked to be fast asleep. Anne stared down at him for a minute, her bones felt like overcooked noodles and she felt like she’d throw up at any second. She silently slid from the room and closed the door behind her. Monro could keep his life, for now, she decided. Anne searched the rest of the house for anything else of use, she found nothing but the letter from Smith that she’d already read. She grumbled to herself as she set the letter back on the desk, only for her spine to shoot straight as a ramrod when she heard the light click of a door being closed. 

She whirled around with her hidden blade at the ready. When her eyes focused she realized she was staring down the barrel of a gun. Her heartbeat spiked and her body felt weightless as the adrenaline started to flow. The Colonel stared her down with his finger on the trigger and Anne didn’t dare break eye contact. 

“What is it you want, Assassin?” they way he said that last word made it sound like an insult. Anne didn’t say anything and continued to stare him down, silently looking for a way out that didn’t include a hole in her forehead. The two kept their eyes on one another as Anne slowly started to tiptoe away from him and towards the window. 

“Not you,” she growled. She’d gotten closer to the window now, her back to the glass, she only needed a momentary distraction and she could be gone. Monro didn’t respond and took a step closer to her. Anne darted to her right and snatched a metallic candle holder from the desk. Her sudden movement startled him and he shot the wall next to her. Before he could reload or go to attack her, she chucked the candle holder at him and it caught his shoulder. He cried out in pain and clutched at his shoulder as she turned and dove out the window. The glass shattered around her as she scrambled down the building and sprinted out into the night. 

_______

Shay stared silently up at the ceiling, his heart still pounding. He’d gone to bed a few hours earlier. He couldn’t see anything through the inky darkness that surrounded him. The room itself was silent but the moans still echoed in his ears. His stomach churned furiously, he’d managed to push Anne from his thoughts after his conversation with Liam, only for his mind to betray him while he slept. Shay huffed and pressed the back of his head into the pillow as his cock throbbed for attention, the friction against the blankets only making it worse. Shay cursed himself and swallowed his pride as his hand slid past the waistband of his trousers. He wrapped his hand around his shaft and gave a few lazy strokes as his dream replayed behind his eyelids.

The first image that flashed in his mind was his lips on her neck and her soft moans as she ground her hips against his. The tip of his thumb brushed over his slit and palmed the bead of precum around the head of his cock. His hand sped up and he rolled his hips into his palm as his mind ran wild. The Anne in his mind sat him on the edge of the bed as she pressed searing kisses from his neck to his collarbone, and down his body until she sank to her knees. Shay couldn’t help but buck into his hand when he thought of Anne’s pillowy lips around his cock, her tongue caressing at it as she gazed up at him with half-lidded eyes. His breathing grew more labored as more images flickered through his mind. Shay fell into a haze, his body acting on instinct alone as the pleasure built. Shay clenched his jaw clenched shut as tightly as he could as a bolt of pleasure shot down his spine and he came with a muffled grunt. He cleaned himself up once his mind came down from his post-orgasmic high. When he was done he curled himself up in a cocoon of blankets and screwed his eyes shut. His heartbeat had finally begun to slow and after hours of trying, he finally fell asleep. 

A few days later the Morrigan finally made it back to the Homestead. Liam went to brief Achilles while Shay fixed up his ship. Once everything was done, Shay meandered up the hill towards the Homestead proper. He spotted Hope sparring with one of her men. He leaned against a tree to watch, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Anne standing next to Liam and talking to Achilles. Her shoulders were slumped forward and her arms were folded defensively in front of her. Shay forced his attention away from her and back to Hope. when their conversation with Achilles ended, Anne and Liam made their way over to him. She was close enough now for him to see the scratch that marred the left side of her face. He went and gently tapped her shoulder. 

“You okay?” he asked. She looked at him through heavy eyelids, her arms still crossed across her chest. 

“I’m fine, thank you, Shay,” she said. Her tone made him think otherwise. He chose not to push her and turned to Liam. 

“What now?” he asked him. Liam shrugged. 

“Nothin’ at the moment. Smith has taken the box to Europe, and he’s too far ahead of us to follow. We’re not sure if he has the manuscript though…” he paused for a moment and looked back over his shoulder at the homestead. “We’ll find a lead soon enough, I suppose,” he said. Shay nodded and the three remained silent for a bit. He was about to ask Anne about her scratch when Abigail sounded the dinner call. He made up his mind to ask later. Anne was silent all throughout the meal and left immediately when it was over. The sun had begun to set when he gently knocked on her bedroom door. The door creaked open to reveal a beleaguered Anne. dark circles had formed around her eyes and she just seemed to sag with exhaustion. 

“What do you need?” she asked. Her voice was raspy. 

“Just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He said. “You don’t seem to be doing too well, you don’t seem like yourself.” She hummed. 

“I haven’t been sleeping well lately,” she said. 

“Something troubling you?” he asked. Anne sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. “Monro escaped,” she said. Shay cocked an eyebrow at her and took the opportunity to turn the conversation. 

“Is that how you-” he cut himself off and pointed to the scratch on her cheek. She lightly brushed the wound self consciously with her fingertips and confirmed him with a nod. She crossed her arms in front of her again and Shay suddenly had the idea that there was something she wasn’t saying. He chose not to push her, instead, he took a step back from her. 

“I won’t keep you, then. Sleep well, Anne.” She gave him a faint smile and nodded. 

“Goodnight, Shay,” she said. He turned to walk away 

“Goodnight”. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this bit took so long to update, I misclicked and accidentally deleted the entire chapter. I curled up in a ball and contemplated existence for a few days after that. oops.


	10. Blood and Ink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Anne receives a letter and tells Shay about her heritage 
> 
> Up next: Anne makes some new friends (and enemies) in Albany

The furious August sun beat down on the homestead. Anne sat beneath the sprawling shade of a tree while Shay and Liam sparred nearby. Her head rested against the tree’s trunk as she sliced open the envelope. Since her return to the homestead, the guilt and shame of her initial failure faded into the background, hidden behind the routine of training. It all came flooding back when the letter arrived, though. A sealed envelope had been handed to her earlier that morning, addressed to her from her father. She opened the envelope and the letter began with his immaculate handwriting: 

“Annushka, 

I’ve just received word of what happened in Haiti, I’m sorry you were caught in such a horrible situation. Adewale assures me you handled the situation spectacularly, I expected nothing less, of course. And I’ve heard of you beginning your work in the colonies. Achilles is a competent mentor and a good assassin, as is his second, from what I’ve heard. Things are well on this side of the ocean. Egor Bobrov sends his regards. Your brothers are continuing their studies, Alexi’s french needs more work and Boris could be doing better with a blade. If only they were as good students as you were. I hope those colonies are treating you well, lord above knows the templars won’t. I’ve heard of the man they call a ‘grandmaster’ and he’s not one to show mercy. He’ll prove to be a stubborn obstacle, but one you’ll have to overcome. Failure is not an option, Annushka, you will return successful or the council may never entrust you with anything like this again. I won’t have your potential wasted in a library. Stay true to the tenets and you’ll return. 

Your father, 

Dimitri Lebedev.” 

Anne’s fingertips slowly traced the edges of the paper as she read and reread the letter. Her stomach twisted and turned as memories of her encounter with Colonel Monro swam in her head. The shame of her failure made her face burn. She folded the letter and tucked it back into its envelope. The sound of Shay’s body thudding against the ground as Liam swept his legs from beneath him drew her attention. She watched as Liam extended his hand down to help Shay up. As he got back to his feet Shay glanced over at Anne and met her eyes. Anne snapped her gaze back to her letter and silently prayed he hadn’t noticed her watching him. The cocky smile that was on his face a few seconds later said otherwise. She anxiously fiddled with the edges of the envelope for a moment until a figure dashed across her peripheral vision. She looked up to see Connor darting in between the trees as he chased a squirrel. Anne laughed as the little rodent outran Connor and left him bewildered. 

“What are you up to, little one?” she asked him. Connor turned to look at her, both of them still blanketed in the shade of the tree.

“Was chasin’ the-” he stopped and pointed to where he’d lost the squirrel. She smiled at the little boy. 

“Doesn’t look like he wanted to play, huh?” she asked. Connor frowned and shook his head. “It must be boring here-” she added “With no other children to play with” Connor shrugged and looked down at his feet. Anne wasn’t sure what to do then, Connor didn’t look like he wanted to talk. Luckily she didn’t need to think of anything because Abigail’s voice came from over her shoulder. 

“Connor! There you are!” she called. Abigail passed Anne by and wrapped her son in a tight hug. “What’ve you been doing?” she asked him. Connor edged closer to his mother. 

“Talkin’ to miss Anne, mama” he muttered into her skirt. Abigail smiled down at Connor and looked back at Anne. 

“How’ve you been, Anne?” she asked. Anne nodded. 

“I am well, and you?”. Abigail shrugged, as she did Connor gradually began to pull away from his mother. 

“As well as one can be,” she said. Connor was sneaking farther and farther from his mother, now, having grown bored with all the ‘grown-up’ conversation. “How goes the search?” she added. Anne’s hands tightened around the envelope in her hands. Her thoughts flashed back to her father’s words. ‘Failure is not an option’... in the past weeks, she’d joined Hope in supervising the incoming reports from her men. She’d found that Hope had a rather complex network of ‘employees’ throughout the colonies, especially in New York. She and Hope had combed through every word they’d sent in and went out to search themselves, yet no word had come in about the Templars, let alone any precursor artifacts. Anne dragged her thoughts back to the present. 

“It could be better,” She said bluntly. “ They’ve gone quiet, they’re either planning something or waiting for something, and I don’t know which is more disquieting.” Abigail sighed heavily. 

“They’ll come out of the woodwork eventually, all parasites do,” she said. Anne nodded and let her fingers trace the envelope in her hands a bit more. Abigail shrugged. “I can see you’re busy, I should-” she froze when she realized Connor had left her side. She perked her head up and her eyes swiveled in their sockets as she searched for him. “Connor?” she called. “Where’ve you gone?” A little voice called from above them. 

“M’here, mama!” Connor said. The two looked up to see the little boy climbing a tree. Clumsily shifting from branch to branch. Abigail gasped. 

“Get down from there!” she commanded. Connor frowned and scooted from his branch and back down the tree’s trunk. When his feet returned to earth Abigail looked back at Anne. “I should be getting back to my work, good day, Anne,” she said as she turned to go. Anne nodded and watched Connor follow his mother away. She looked back down at the letter for a moment, then glanced over where Shay and Liam had been training. They’d stopped sparring and were now chatting amongst themselves. Shay must have said something, Liam rolled his eyes and Shay started laughing. Anne pulled her eyes away from them and stood up. The muscles in her legs stretched as she walked back towards her room in the guest house. The door clicked closed behind her as she plopped down onto the chair at her desk. She spread the letter out on her desktop and reread her father’s words. 

‘I won’t have your potential wasted in a library…’ Anne sighed and buried her face in her hands. She remembered that conversation. A few months before she’d left for Haiti she’d been working in Moskva, digging through old books that had been collecting dust in the assassin’s hidden library. She’d still been pushing to be allowed to go to Haiti, and the council continued to freeze her out. She was studying behind a small mountain of books when a few figures crossed her peripheral vision. Anne looked up to see her father walking with the mentor of the Moskva assassins, Artyom Bobrov, and his son, Egor. they wove between the shelves and stacks of books as they spoke quietly amongst themselves. She turned her attention back to her work as they started to walk towards her. Their muffled words became more and more audible as they got closer. She pretended she was engrossed in her work as they passed, only glancing up when she thought it was safe. When her eyes moved up from her work she was startled to see Egor looking back at her. She jumped and her eyes darted back to the book in her hands. She heard Egor whispering something to his father as they moved on, but she couldn’t parse out what. She continued her work for a few more minutes before she decided to leave. Annushka tucked her notes into her bag and scooped her books into her arms. She wove between the shelves, carefully putting each book back in its rightful place. Once everything was put away she went to leave. 

Annushka quietly slipped through the door and started to make her way down the hall. She turned a corner and passed her father and the Bobrovs along the way. As she passed she caught Artyom saying the phrase ‘fine daughter in-la-’ only to stop in his tracks when she came into view. She glanced at her father but didn’t stop to talk. She walked further down the hallway, murmurs of their conversation echoing down the long hallway. Hours later, just before Dinner, her father knocked on her door. When he came in he sat down across from her. She put her book down on her desk when he spoke. 

“How go your lessons?” He asked. Annushka glanced at the sheaf of papers on her desk. “Well, I think. My french is improving rapidly, so is my English, but-” she paused and looked at her father. She clasped her hands in front of her and fiddled with her fingers. “About Haiti-” she stopped when she heard her father sigh. 

“I know what you’re going to ask, Annushka, and yes, I’ve been talking with the council but they’re not budging. Artyom wants to send Egor, and-” Annushka interrupted him with a dry laugh. 

“Oh, yes, how could I hope to hold a candle to Egor Bobrov!” she said. The bitterness in her voice wasn’t lost on her father. 

“I know you want to go. But the council is reluctant. You don’t have any experience with our foreign brothers, Egor does-” 

“I don’t have any experience because you all refuse to let me leave!” Annushka glared at him. She stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. “How am I to prove I can help the assassins if nobody will let me leave! If you all had your way I’d spend my entire life shunted away collecting dust in the library! I can’t live like that,  _ папа _ , I won’t!” she huffed. The two remained silent for a moment. Her father’s brow was knitted together like he was thinking something through. 

“The library isn’t your only option,” he said quietly. Annushka narrowed her eyes, her arms fell to her sides. 

“What do you mean?” she asked. There was a long pause, his brow remained furrowed like he was debating whether or not to tell her. They were interrupted by her mother calling from downstairs. Dinner was ready. Her father sighed. 

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said dismissively. He rose from his seat and turned to leave. Annushka stood alone for a moment. She looked back down at her notes on the desk. She felt her stomach burn as she made a decision. She’d go, with or without the council’s approval. 

Looking back on that conversation, Anne thought she shouldn’t have been so hostile. Her father only wanted the best. She sighed and took out a fresh piece of paper. 

‘My dear father,’ she began, the Cyrillic letters flowing naturally from her pen. Anne wasn’t sure how to respond, she knew she needed to assure him she’d be fine. But was she truly? Her thoughts went back to Monro. He’s a Templar, and a high ranking military official, a threat! Yet she spared him. She couldn’t let her father know, she couldn’t let anyone know. There’s too much on the line. She looked back at the paper.

‘I’ve received your letter in good health’ she continued. Should she mention Haiti? She often laid awake at night, thinking back to all the dead and wounded. Newly orphaned children wandering the streets calling for their parents, the dead and dying crammed together in the hospital with so few doctors and nurses to care for them. No, she thought, better not mention Haiti.

‘My work in the colonies has been difficult, but promising. Achilles has been nothing short of welcoming and helpful. The others have been incredibly kind as well. Achilles’ second, Liam O’Brien, shows incredible potential. I believe he’ll make a fine mentor someday. I’m glad to hear Alexi and Boris are improving. Please don’t push them too hard. Their abilities will develop well enough over time. We have yet to locate the pieces of Eden, but we’re sure the manuscript remains in the colonies and we continue to search tirelessly. The templars can’t hide from us forever. We will find them, sooner or later. I will succeed, and I will return. 

Your daughter,  Annushka Lebedev’

She signed the letter and tied it closed with a string. She’d send it in a few days when the courier came through again. In the meantime, she thought, Hope would be expecting her. She got up from her desk and stretched her arms. She closed her door behind her and went downstairs. The sun shone into her eyes as she stepped outside. She squinted for a moment to let her eyes get used to the sunlight again. She continued walking past the manor and towards the sparring ground. Hope was nowhere to be seen, though. Anne leaned against the fence and watched the birds fly overhead. Hope wasn’t one to be late, Anne thought, she’d be here any minute. Anne thought back to her father’s letter, she thought about her father, mother, and brothers, she was glad they were doing well. She wondered whether or not they were in Sankt-Peterburg, or in Moskva? When she left her family had been spending more and more time in Moskva, with the war with the templars escalating it was all hands on deck. 

“What’cha doin’? Someone asked. Anne jumped, she was so deep in thought she hadn’t noticed Shay coming. Shay recoiled a bit when he saw her bristle, only to immediately relax. He laughed and leaned on the fence next to her. “M’sorry!” he said, laughter still in his voice. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” Anne smiled back at him. He has such an easy smile, she thought. 

“It’s fine,” she said. “I just didn’t hear you coming”. He shrugged confidently, a smile still on his face. 

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said. Anne realized what he was referring to and nodded. 

“I suppose it is! I shouldn’t have expected anything less from an assassin!” she said. Her smile faded as she continued. “Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.” Shay cocked an eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah?” he asked. “What’cha need?”. Anne looked over at him, there was little distance between them. If she leaned too far to one side she’d be brushing up against his shoulder. 

“I know you haven’t been here long, but I’m wondering how you came to the assassins in the first place,” She looked up at him, “How’d you find us?” she asked. Shay shrugged. 

“I didn’t really ‘find’ the assassins. Liam did. He introduced me to Achilles, convinced me to come to the homestead and train. You wanna blame somebody? Blame Liam!” he said. Anne chuckled. 

“Maybe I ought to be!” she said. “I think It’s admirable you joined as an adult, though.” she said. Shay’s brow furrowed, a playful smile still on his face. 

“What’d you mean?” he asked. Anne looked up at him, his mischievous brown eyes looking back at her made her heart skip a beat. She unwittingly leaned closer to him. 

“What I mean is-” she paused for a moment to better collect her thoughts. “You weren’t raised to be an assassin, none of you were. You didn’t come here because it’s what you were born to do, but because it was the right thing to do. I can admire that.” she said. Shay hummed before falling quiet for a moment. After a few seconds of content silence he said: 

“Were you raised to be an assassin?” he asked. Anne nodded. 

“I was. My family has belonged to the assassins for generations. It’s a great pride of ours.” she said. 

“What’s a great pride of yours?” Liam asked. Anne stiffened as they turned to see Liam and Hope standing behind them. 

“Liam! I, erm, I was just telling Shay about my family’s past with the assassins.” Anne explained. Liam hummed. 

“That so?” he asked. Anne nodded and Hope stepped closer to her. 

“Sorry I was late I had-” She paused as if she was planning her next words carefully. “Other business. Are you ready?” she asked. Anne picked up her sword from the nearby rack and handed Hope a second one. 

“Ready when you are.” she said. Hope hummed and took the sword from Anne. the two women took their places on the training ground and began their sparring. As usual, Hope took the first swing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.tenor.com%2Fimages%2F621d0e1b10c2cb0b51cfe20b1f6807cc%2Fraw&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fsearch%2Fim-not-dead-yet-gifs&tbnid=OjsEDIJmqP4VrM&vet=12ahUKEwji-d_xsv7nAhVPWqwKHaGrClQQMygAegUIARDWAQ..i&docid=i-tUnLJ5sM3cwM&w=638&h=342&q=i%27m%20not%20dead%20yet&safe=active&ved=2ahUKEwji-d_xsv7nAhVPWqwKHaGrClQQMygAegUIARDWAQ
> 
> sorry about that hiatus. I'll try to get chapters up more regularly.


	11. The other woman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Anne makes some new friends (And enemies) in Albany 
> 
> Up next: Shay and Liam arrive in Albany.

The visions came in flashes. Sometimes she could see the quivering cobbles beneath her feet, other times a crumbling roof or a raging fire. The screams were ever-present, though. The wailing and sobbing deafened her as she scrambled to run. Sunlight began to peek through the holes in the roof as she begged her legs to move. There was so little feeling in her legs she’d think they were gone if she weren’t looking at them. Someone was yelling for help but she couldn't tell who, Abéla? She tried to crawl to her feet, only for them to give out beneath her and send her flopping to the floor again. She tried to crawl away, but she didn’t have enough time to escape before the entire building came crashing down on her head. 

Anne woke with a jolt. She sat up and frantically scanned the room. The sun was just barely peeking above the horizon, her room was still cast in shadows. She wiped the tears from her eyes and crawled out of bed. The floor leeched the warmth from her feet as she paced back and forth. The adrenaline was still high from her nightmare. Anne first focused on her breathing. She took long, slow breaths. Breathing in through her nose, then out through her mouth. She kept her attention on the feeling of the air flowing through her mouth and nose. Anne’s heart rate began to slow as she methodically relaxed the muscles in her neck, arms, and shoulders. She didn’t want to think about her dream, but it kept worming its way back into her mind. When the earthquake hit she was eagerly waiting for Vendredi to return with a piece of Eden. Anne remembered feeling like she was finally going to accomplish something worthy of an assassin. Then everything went to hell. She wasn’t sure what was happening at first. She’d never experienced an earthquake before and was confused and terrified. The ground became unsteady beneath her feet and the walls started crumbling around her. The roof nearly crushed her as it fell, luckily she escaped with little more than some bloody scratches and purple bruises. Others weren’t so lucky, though. She remembered one man’s legs were crushed beneath the rubble. His legs were beyond saving, leaving his upper half writhing in agony and desperately clawing to escape. 

Anne dragged her thoughts back to the present. The sun was gradually climbing its way into the sky and she needed to get to work. She dressed in her Caraco, skirt, and apron again. The same outfit she’d worn in New York. The sleeves were too short for her to wear her hidden blades, so instead, she had altered the bodice to have a small hidden pocket where she could store a small blade. She could have it out and ready in a moment’s notice, should the need arise. Anne and Hope had been working together in Albany for the past few weeks, building up her gang’s influence. Hope was focusing on gathering men and materials, while Anne took care of anyone who would try to stop them. Today she would be going after John MacArthur, the current head of the British garrison in Albany. He’d been cracking down on Hope’s men lately and was doing his damndest to strangle any foothold they had in the city. MacArthur’s second in command, Henry Clancey, would have a more benevolent attitude towards them if he got a promotion and a decent ‘gift’. Anne would be taking care of Mr.MacArthur while Hope scraped the money together for his replacement. Anne was dressed and ready to go by six in the morning. 

She stepped onto the streets and started walking. It was early enough that the sun hadn’t scorched everything in sight yet. Late summer was one of the worst times to be in the city, Anne thought. It was so hot, it made the stink of the city that much more unbearable. She’d always preferred Autumn, herself. Not too hot or cold, and the beautiful colors of the leaves. The city began to wake as Anne made it to the barracks where the lesser soldiers were garrisoned. Men entered and left sporadically, all of them in thick, red, woolen coats. A moment of pity overcame her. Having to wear wool in the height of summer? She wouldn’t trade places with them for anything. Anne crossed the street to the market opposite the garrison. Anne blended in well with the crowd. By now there were enough people out and about that she could use it as cover until MacArthur showed. It was near eleven when he finally arrived. Anne was sweating beneath the unforgiving sun when she spotted him leaving the garrison. She pushed her way through the crowd until she was close enough to properly tail him. MacArthur was a head taller than most other men on the street and a head and a half taller than Anne herself. He had dark brown hair and eyes to match, both were partially hidden beneath a hat. He wore a red coat typical of the British army. He walked with a kind of pompous authority that reminded Anne of Egor. she scoffed to herself as they walked. Eventually, they arrived at a small house in the western half of the city. He knocked on the door and waited there for a moment. Anne was peeking around the corner as she watched a young woman, no older than twenty-five, open the door. 

When she saw him she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into the house. Anne’s brow furrowed. She’d been gathering information on him for long enough to know that he lived on the opposite side of the city, with his wife and two children. His poor wife, she thought. Mistresses weren’t that uncommon, but still. To be betrayed like that is something Anne couldn’t imagine, and never wanted to. The door closed behind them and Anne decided to leave him for a bit. Let them see each other one last time, she thought, it’ll be the last time. She waited around the corner until the sun was well overhead and would begin its descent onto the horizon soon. Anne’s feet ached and she was thinking about just breaking into the house and ending it right then, but the door creaked open and the young mistress stepped out. She closed the door behind her and walked off. Anne watched her leave and waited until she was out of sight before going for the door. 

She turned the knob and the door clicked open with little fuss. Anne stepped into the house and looked around as the door closed behind her. She pulled her knife out from its hidden pocket as she went. The house was quiet as Anne tiptoed through the house. She turned right, into the empty kitchen where a small fire crackled in the hearth. Anne continued on with her search. She gradually tiptoed through the house. Checking each room for her target and finding nothing on the first floor. She turned around and slowly crept up the stairs, she couldn’t help the creaking of one of the steps as she made it to the second floor. There was less ground to cover here than on the first floor. From the stairs, there was a short hallway with two doors, one on each side. She stood to her full height and approached the door to her right. She put her ear to the door and listened closely. She heard nothing behind the door so she went to the door on her left and listened, but she heard nothing there, too. Anne sighed and opened the door. It groaned on its hinges and it opened. Her knuckles whitened as she gripped her knife in her fist as she stepped through the door. Anne froze before she got through the door. 

The first thing she saw was the blood. Pooled on the floor was a puddle of black-red blood that was heavily coagulated. Her eyes followed the trickles of blood up onto the bed where MacArthur lay. His shirtless torso was littered with stab wounds, blood lay pooling in the wounds, on the bed, on the floor, lord have mercy, it was everywhere. Anne stood there, her mind a jumble of static. She backed out of the room and closed the door behind her. She turned away and darted back down the stairs and towards the open front door.  _ Wait. didn’t she close it?  _ Anne slowed to a stop and looked around. Her heart was pumping wildly now, she did her best to keep her breathing steady as she searched for any sign of an intruder. She heard a floorboard creak in the other room and she held the handle of her blade tighter as she followed the sound. Anne burst into the kitchen and narrowly dodged the cast iron pan being swung at her face. The pan missed and hit the wall instead, taking a chunk out of it. Anne stared down the woman from earlier, she held Anne’s gaze with a cold determination. The woman’s long, spindly fingers wrapped around the pan’s wooden handle as she reared up to strike Anne again. Anne only had a small knife to defend herself with, and that wouldn’t last long against a cast-iron frying pan. Anne bent her knees and held her arms close to her torso. When the woman swung her pan again Anne ducked out of the way, going the opposite direction the woman swung so the weight of the pan would force her to turn away from Anne. when the pan was as far away from her as possible Anne tackled the woman to the floor, the pan clattering away from her and skidding across the floor. Anne pressed the woman to the floor and held her blade to her neck. She froze beneath the cold metal of Anne’s blade. Her mind was running too fast to keep up. Should she kill her? Turn her in? She didn’t know. She was pulled from her thoughts when the woman spoke. 

“Please, don’t kill me!” she begged with a quivering voice. Anne looked down at her. The woman’s eyes were teary and wide with fear, Anne could feel her shaking below her. 

“You attacked me! Why shouldn’t I” she asked, pressing her blade further against the woman’s neck, enough to make its presence more threatening, but not enough to draw blood, yet. The woman sobbed and pressed her head against the floor in a feeble attempt to distance her neck from the knife. She whimpered and sniffled as Anne pondered what to do next. If she let the woman live, she could come after her in the future, she could blame Anne for MacArthur’s murder, but she didn’t want to kill her, now that she was disarmed and at her mercy. Anne lowered her head so they were almost nose to nose, she bared her teeth and spoke in a low growl. 

“I was never here, we’ve never met, and if I ever hear you say anything different, they’ll never find what’s left of you.” Anne drew her blade across the woman’s neck, just enough to draw a light trickle of blood. She spoke slowly, emphasizing each word as she spoke. “Do you understand?” she asked. The woman gave several quick, tiny nods. “Good,” Anne growled. She got up from on top of the woman and ran out the door, leaving it open as she left. 

The blood that still clung to her shoes was wiped away by the dirt, leaving Anne with little to show for her ordeal. The sun was lower in the sky now, sunset will come in a few hours. Anne wove her way back through Albany, the adrenaline draining quickly, leaving behind thick fatigue. She wove through the winding streets until she was almost back, then she was suddenly shoved aside by a woman running in the opposite direction. Anne turned to glare at her, but her anger dissipated when the woman was followed by two men in leather coats with orange accents, Hope’s men. Anne’s brow furrowed as she turned to follow them. The woman wasn’t much of a runner and the men were quickly gaining on her. Anne sprinted after them. They chased her down a desolate street, the only witnesses here would be Anne and the wooden walls. One of the men lunged forward and grabbed the back of the woman’s collar and pulled her towards him. The two men pulled her into a nearby alley. Anne rushed ahead to catch them pinning her against a wall. One of them had a knife against her face, and the other had his hand on the handle of his pistol strapped to his hip. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Anne called as she stepped into the alleyway. Both men froze and stared at her for a moment. The one pinning the woman to the wall sneered 

“Piss off, woman! This doesn’t concern you!” he growled. Anne didn’t break eye contact with him as she slipped her knife from its pocket. 

“The boss won’t be happy when she finds out about this,” she pointed out. Anne took another step closer to them. The woman’s eyes darted between all of them as the second man laughed. 

“Like she doesn’t already know!” he said as he closed in on Anne. She wouldn’t let the confusion show on her face as she prepared herself for a fight. She’d think about that later. Anne could feel her heart pounding in her ears and the man took his pistol from its holster. Before he could take aim, Anne’s knife was buried in his gut. She put her hand on his shoulder and shoved him away from her, twisting the knife as it came out. He scrambled away from her with his hands pressed against his torso in a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. Anne turned her attention to the other man. He released the woman and turned towards them. His eyes darted between his friend and Anne, his face was a mask of shock as he watched his friend bleeding next to him.’

“Christ alive!” he said under his breath. The woman ran down the opposite end of the alley, finding only a dead end as Anne lunged at them. Her little blade didn’t do much damage, but she was fast. Anne hacked and slashed at the injured man, his defenses already down, he didn’t last long. He fell to the ground before his friend could do anything to stop her. By the time Anne was finishing up with the first one, the other was scrambling down the alley, onto the street and away from Anne. she looked down towards the end of the alleyway where the woman stood, curled in on herself. She was young, maybe twenty, she had long, golden hair that spilled from its bun in curly tresses. There was a red scratch on her cheek from the knife. She looked at Anne through rivers of tears that spilled from her wide, grey eyes. 

“Are you alright?” Anne asked her. The woman opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She just sobbed. Anne slowly approached the woman, putting her knife away, she gestured towards the mouth of the alley. 

“Come on,” She said. The woman sniffled. “Let’s get you home”. Slowly, like her legs were made of lead, the woman walked towards Anne. she peeked out of the alley and onto the street. 

“Will you come with me?” she asked timidly. Anne nodded with a gentle smile. She followed her out onto the street. Anne trailed just behind her as she led them through Albany. Eventually, they made it to a little, blue two-story house. When they approached a woman came running from the house. She was older, maybe in her mid-forties, with grey streaked auburn hair. 

“Janie! There ye are!” she said with a thick Scottish accent. The older woman wrapped Janie up in her arms. “Where’ve ye been? What’s happn’d?” she questioned. 

“A couple of men jumped her,” Anne answered. The woman’s eyes snapped to Anne like she was only just noticing she was there.

“‘N’who are ye?” she asked suspiciously. The woman turned to keep herself between Anne and Janie. She narrowed her eyes and looked Anne up and down. 

“My name is Anne, I was just bringing her home.” Anne started to step away from the pair of women “I’ll be going now” she finished as she turned to leave. 

“Wait!” Janie said. Anne stopped and turned back to them. “Are you hurt?” she asked. Anne paused for a moment, she gave her body a quick once over for any serious injuries. She found none, just some aching in her legs and the exhaustion that was quickly taking her over. 

“No, don’t worry about me,” Anne said. Janie’s brow furrowed. She and the older woman shared a quick look between them before she spoke. 

“Then come inside for a bit, will you?” she asked. “You must be thirsty after all that? Or hungry?” Anne smiled politely. 

“I’m fine, thank you, though,” she said. The older woman scoffed. 

“Nonsense!” she said. She released Janie from her arms and gestured for Anne to follow her. “Come in, Come in! It’s the least we can do for you after you helped out our Janie!” the older woman started to go inside. Janie looked back at Anne with a look that begged her to follow. Anne didn’t have the heart to resist. Her feet dragged her into the little house. When she walked through the door she saw a small sitting room, with a cozy-looking sofa and pair of end tables. There were bookshelves against the wall and a fire crackling in the fireplace. On the left side of the room, there was a staircase leading to the second floor. The older woman went to their left and disappeared into the kitchen. Janie led Anne into the sitting room and turned back towards her. 

“Gloria will have supper ready soon. You’re free to stay, If you’d like,” she said. Anne’s growling stomach answered for her. She hadn’t eaten since that morning when she left to find MacArthur. 

“Thank you, Janie,” Anne said. Janie smiled 

“I should be thanking you!” she said. Anne hummed and sat down, Janie followed suit. A pair of feet came thumping down the stairs. Anne looked up to see another woman come down the stairs. She was taller than Anne, with dark brown hair tied back into a tight bun. She took one look at Anne and turned to Janie. 

“Jane,” she said. “Who’s this?” she asked. Janie gestured to the woman,

“Angeline, this is Anne. she fought off some cutthroats earlier. I’d be in serious trouble if she hadn’t shown up.” she explained. Angeline looked over at Anne. her brown, wide-set eyes boring into her from across the room. Anne wasn’t sure if she liked what she saw or not. Angeline didn’t say anything to her, she looked back to Jane. 

“Grace will be back soon, does Gloria have supper on?” she asked. Jane nodded, 

“Should be ready soon,” she said. Angeline shrugged. 

“Guess we should make our guest some tea, then,” she said dismissively. Jane nodded and looked at Anne. 

“Stay here,” she said. “We’ll be right back,”. Anne nodded and watched the two shuffle off into the kitchen. Her stomach growled and her entire body felt heavy. She thought back to the days’ events. Anne wasn’t sure what happened with MacArthur’s mistress, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. Did she kill MacArthur? Or had someone else gotten to him after she left? It must have been her, Anne thought, nobody could get in and out that quickly without her noticing. Her target was dead either way, she shouldn’t dwell on it too much. It was what happened after that disturbed Anne the most. What those men had said about Hope. ‘Like she doesn’t already know’... did Hope know her men were going to be doing this? How often does something like this happen? Anne was pulled from her thoughts by a pair of figures coming out of the kitchen. Jane and Angeline came back with three cups of tea. Angeline handed her a cup and sat down next to her, Jane sat on her opposite side. 

“So, Anne.” Angeline started. “Care to tell me what happened earlier?”. Anne idly ran her thumb across the side of the cup. 

“I saw Jane being attacked and I acted. Not much more to say,” she said bluntly. Angeline cocked an eyebrow. 

“Janie here tells me you stabbed one of them. How many people do you know would stab somebody to protect a stranger?” she asked. Anne swallowed thickly. She wasn’t sure how far Angeline’s questions were going to go. She steeled her nerves and kept her face as neutral as she could, Angeline reminded Anne of Hope, if she saw weakness she’d strike. 

“One,” Anne said bluntly. 

“And who might that be?” Angeline asked. Anne straightened her shoulders and met Angeline’s tough gaze. 

“Me. I saw someone in trouble, so I helped. One of those men came at me with a gun. I stabbed him because he was threatening me.” Anne said. Angeline cocked an eyebrow and the edged of her mouth tipped up slightly. 

“Has this happened before?” Anne asked. Jane spoke up, 

“Has what happened before?”. She turned to Jane 

“Have these gangs been a problem for long? Have they attacked anyone else?” Angeline sighed as Jane responded.

“They’ve been extorting people,” she said, her eyes staring morosely into her cup. “Mugging and beating anyone that won’t pay up willingly. The captain has been cracking down on them as best he can, but they keep popping back up again!” Anne’s heart sank, she thought about MacArthur and her part in building up the gang these past weeks.

“Like weeds” Angeline added. Jane nodded 

“The worst kind of weeds,” she said. Jane looked back at Anne. “I was attacked today because I didn’t have any money on me. They wanted me to pay in a different way...” she said. Jane visibly tensed and kept her eyes on the cup in her hands. Anne’s brow furrowed. 

“That’s awful,” she muttered. Angeline scoffed, but before she could say anything the front door opened. A woman with cropped hair and a basket full of fabric shuffled inside. She closed the door behind her and turned to the women on the sofa. Her eyebrows shot up when she spotted Anne. 

“Who’s this?” she asked. Jane put her and on Anne’s shoulder and said 

“This is Anne,” she said. She gestured towards the woman 

“Anne this is Grace” Grace nodded to Anne and she nodded back 

“Good to meet you,” Anne said. Grace carefully set her basket by the bottom of the staircase.

“Will she be joining us for supper?” she asked. Anne opened her mouth to tell her she really needed to be going but Angeline beat her to the punch. 

“Yes, she will.” she turned to Anne. “Won’t you? Your stomach’s been howling since you got here,” she said. She was right, Anne hadn’t eaten since she left this morning and she was starved. She nodded and Angeline looked back to Grace. 

“Set an extra place at the table, would you?” she asked. Grace nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. Jane tapped Anne on the shoulder. 

“You're in good hands,” she said. “Gloria’s a really good cook.” Anne smiled and put her empty cup on the table. She looked over to the basket at the base of the stairs. It was overflowing with fabrics of various cuts and colors. 

“What’s all that fabric for?” she asked. Jane hummed and followed Anne's gaze to the basket. 

“Oh, that? We embroider designs onto fabric for the tailor in town,” she said. Angeline hummed. 

“It’s mind-numbing and repetitive, but it pays,” she said. “But enough about us, where are you from, your accent says your not from the colonies.”. Anne nodded. 

“I’m from Russia, I came to the colonies nearly six months ago,” she said. 

“Russia? That’s a long way. Why come so far?” she asked. Anne's stomach started twisting, she couldn’t say anything about the Assassins. 

“I, erm. I’m joining my family in the colonies,” she said. Not a total lie. Angeline cocked her head. 

“Why’d you leave in the first place? Nobody takes that kind of journey on a whim,”. Anne kept her face neutral and relaxed. 

"There’s a famine back home, food and work are becoming more and more difficult to come across, so my family sent me here,” she said. 

“Just you? Nobody else?” Angeline asked. Anne liked her less and less. 

“Just me. There wasn’t enough money for all of us.” Anne said. Her stomach was twisting and turning as Angeline stared her down. Anne was praying she’d buy it, or at least not say anything. Angeline was about to say something but was cut off by a call from the kitchen. 

“Food!” Gloria called. Jane hopped up from the sofa and headed for the kitchen, Angeline followed with Anne behind her. When they entered the kitchen they turned right and ducked into a little dining room. Gloria and Grace were already sitting down when Jane, Angeline, and Anne joined them. There was a pot of steaming stew at the center of the table, flanked by loaves of bread and bowls set out for each of them. Anne sat down and ate quickly. She’d finish this meal quickly and leave as soon as she could. She needed to get back to Hope. She had some questions. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Jane, Gloria, Angeline, and the others were fun to write.


	12. thoughts and smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Shay and Liam arrive in Albany 
> 
> Up next: Shay and Anne learn more about one another and Anne gets nostalgic

Anne wove her way through Albany, the cool early morning air was fresh in her lungs. She left the house early in the morning, after promising Jane to write. Anne was flattered she wanted to stay in contact, but she wasn’t sure what she’d talk about. Looking back, Anne realized she’d never really had any friends to write to, the only letters she’d ever written were for her father or other assassins. Anne didn’t have the time to think about that right now, she was back. In the past few weeks she and Hope were working in Albany, they’d stayed in the gang stronghold near the docks. Anne slipped in the door, closing it silently behind her. It was a small compound, spanning only a few small buildings. She walked down the hallway towards Hope’s makeshift office. A dim light shone from beneath the door as Anne approached. She opened the door and spotted Hope bent over the table, glaring down at the papers scattered about. When she heard the door opening her eyes moved to Anne, but her expression didn’t change. Hope stared Anne down as she walked in and closed the door behind her. 

“Anne,” she greeted. Anne steeled her nerves as she stepped closer. 

“Hope.” she greeted coldly. “How are you?” she asked. Hope’s eyes fell back to the papers on the table. 

“Not well, something’s gone wrong,” she said. “Someone attacked my men last night.” Hope’s fingers quickly drummed against the table and her brow was in knots. “One of them died,” she said quietly. Anne swallowed thickly, she kept her eyes on Hope. 

“They were robbing a woman,” she said. Hope’s eyes darted from the table to Anne. 

“What?” she asked. 

“They chased a woman into an alleyway and held a knife to her face. I stepped in and one of them tried to pull a gun on me.” Anne paused when Hope’s hands left the table as she straightened her spine. 

“What did you do?” she asked, her voice starting to darken. Anne’s heart started to beat faster. 

“They attacked me, Hope. what did you expect me to do?” Anne rolled her shoulders back and kept her voice even. Hope’s eyes bored into Anne, her hands balling into fists before relaxing again. 

“They only went after you after you interrupted their work!” she said. Anne scoffed. 

“You call that work? That’s organized crime, Hope!” Anne abandoned any thought of caution. “This isn’t the only time this has happened, is it? How long have your men been robbing people?” she asked. “How long have you known?” Hope opened her mouth for a moment, only to snap it shut and take a deep, shaky breath. 

“We need the money to pay off Clancey, how else did you expect us to get it?” she said. Anne huffed. 

“There are other ways, Hope! We don’t need to sink to robbing innocent people!” Anne crossed her arms over her chest. Hope rolled her eyes and sighed. 

“We don’t have that kind of time, Anne! I’m doing what I need to do to secure a future for the assassins. Can you say the same?” Anne’s jaw dropped, a rebuttal dying on her lips. She saw red as she stuttered over her words. She closed her eyes and steadied herself as she resisted the urge to smack Hope upside the head. 

“I’m done,” she said bluntly. Hope’s visible rage dissipated a little when Anne said that. “I’m done helping you with” she paused and gestured to the building around them. “Whatever  _ this _ is supposed to be.” she stepped away and started to move towards the door when Hope spoke again. 

“Then you’ll be pleased to hear that Shay and Liam will be here in a few days,” she said. Anne barely heard her as she left. The door slammed behind Anne as she stormed back down the hallway. As she walked, she began to process what Hope said. All this time Hope knew what her men had been doing, and had done nothing. On the contrary, she thought, Hope used it to her advantage. Had she encouraged it? Anne didn’t know, but after what just happened she wouldn’t be surprised. She stumbled through the door to her room. The door clicked shut behind her as she plopped down on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling, her mind still whirring and her blood still boiling. Anne took a few deep breaths to steady herself. Her heartbeat began to slow as she stared up at the ceiling. It was near noon and Anne wasn’t sure what to do next. She stood from the bed and packed up what she wouldn’t need in the next few days. As she dug through her bag she found her notebooks. She hadn’t worked on them since she came to Albany with Hope. She opened one of them and flipped through its pages. They were littered with notes and drawings, everything she could remember was written down in these books. Her fingertips idly fiddled with the corner of a page as she thought back to all the hours she’d spent bent over these books, trying to preserve as much information she could before it was forgotten. She dreaded working on them, trying to pull every obscure fact she could think of from her memory was agonizing. 

She suddenly remembered what happened earlier that summer. Shay had pulled her from her work and brought her above deck for some fresh air. She appreciated that more than she let on that night. Not many people showed that much care for her wellbeing. During her training back home she’d spent far more time bent over books or pushing her body to its limits while training, with all the people around her, not one asked if she was okay, or if she needed a break. She remembered the cool breeze that sent chills up her spine that night as she walked with Shay across the deck of the Morrigan. The stars were shining in a clear sky above as they talked. It was so easy to talk to him, she thought. She sat up on her bed and looked out the window. She took a long, deep breath. Shay and Liam will be here in a few days, in the meantime, she’ll have to do her best to avoid Hope. 

___________

The sun was setting in the sky, just above the horizon when the Morrigan came to port. He and Liam stepped off the ship and started to make their way towards where Hope and Anne were staying. The entire town was bathed in a peaceful golden light as they went. Shay looked over at Liam, his eyes were half-lidded and glazed over like he was lost in thought. He nudged him with his elbow.

“How do you think they’re doin’?” he asked. Liam snapped from his thoughts and looked over at Shay. 

“Hmm? Anne and Hope? I’m sure they’ve done fine, Shay.” he said. They continued walking, weaving through the crowds. When they finally arrived Anne was nowhere to be found. He followed Liam down a hallway into an office. He knocked on the door before entering. When they entered Hope sitting at the desk reading a book. She glanced up at them and closed her book. 

“You’re late,” she said. Shay looked over at Liam. His friend shrugged as he looked back at Hope. 

“Apologies for the delay, Hope,” Liam said. “We got held up a few days ago”. Hope narrowed her eyes at them. Liam wasn’t lying, though, they’d actually needed to dock the Morrigan after a nasty run-in with a British Schooner. The loot they’d pulled from the sinking ship was well worth it, but the repairs needed for the Morrigan took more time than originally planned, arriving in Albany two weeks later than they were meant to. 

“Apparently,” Hope said. “Well, Anne and I have finished our work here. We should return to the Homestead as soon as possible.” Liam nodded as Hope joined them to go. The three of them left the little office and wove back through the narrow hallway. 

“Where is Anne, by the way?” Shay asked. Hope’s brow furrowed and the corner of her mouth turned up in what looked like a scowl. 

“I’m not sure, we haven’t seen much of one another these past few days,” she said quietly. Liam turned to him as they approached the door. 

“Shay, why don’t you go track her down? Let her know we’re here and that it’s time to go?” he asked. Shay nodded and turned back. Liam and Hope left as Shay walked back down the hallway. 

Shay’s stomach began to jump and churn. He hadn’t seen Anne in weeks and he found his feet involuntarily moving him faster and faster. He needed to will himself to slow down as he turned the corner. There was a door to his right, opened just enough for him to peek in. he spotted Anne with his back to him. She wore her assassin’s robes and her hair in its usual braid. She looked the same as she did every other day, but it didn’t stop his stomach from lurching. She was bent over what looked like a letter. He slowly rose his hand to the doorframe, gently knocking on it with his knuckles. She jumped when she heard him. She quickly stood from her chair and turned to him. He pushed open the door and smiled at her. 

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Shay cocked his head as she collected herself. Anne cleared her throat and shook her head. 

“No! Not at all!” she said. “I just-” she paused, “I just wasn’t expecting you,” she explained. Shay smiled, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Well, M’here!” he said. “Happy to see me?” he asked. She smiled at him, a sweet smile that made Shay’s heart swell. 

“Yes, actually,” she said. Shay visibly perked up when she said that. 

“Really?” he asked hopefully. Anne smiled again, tucking the letter away in her pocket and crossing the room. She was in front of him now, looking up with a mischievous look in her eyes. 

“Of course!” she said. “Hope and I were expecting you weeks ago,” she said as she playfully tapped his shoulder. 

“Aww, and here I thought you missed me,” he said still grinning. Anne shrugged and turned away from him. 

“I never said I didn’t,” she said. Shay suddenly felt very warm inside, he schooled his face as she turned back to him, bags in hand. 

“Shall we?” she asked. Shay stepped aside to let her pass, gesturing for her to go. She went ahead of him, waiting for him to catch up so they could walk side by side. They walked in silence for a bit, when they walked out into the sunlight and onto the streets of Albany, Shay finally spoke up. 

“So, how’d your time here go?” he asked. He looked over at her in time to see her tense. 

“It could have gone better,” she said. They were nearing the docks now, Liam and Hope were in sight now.

“How so?” he asked. Anne shook her head 

“We’ll talk later,” she said. Shay’s brow furrowed, he pushed the growing worry to the back of his head as they met Liam and Hope. 

“Hope and I were just talking,” Liam said, “Why don’t we all go get some drinks? Take a bit of a break before heading back?” Shay looked over at Hope, her face a stony mask. 

“Sure, why not!” Shay said. He looked over at Anne, his smile died when he saw her looking down at the ground 

“Why don’t you go ahead, I’ll be here if you need me,” she said. 

“You’re sure?” Shay asked. She looked up at him and smiled weakly. 

“I’m sure, I’m just tired from these past few weeks,” she explained. 

“Well, if you’re sure,” Liam said. He and Hope started to go while Anne moved past him towards the Morrigan. Shay’s eyes darted between them, his feet suddenly unsure of where to take him. He looked towards Liam and hope. 

“Hey!” he called after them, jogging to catch up with them. They stopped to look back at him. “I, uh, I think I’ll catch up with you later, I just remembered, I, uh- I have something to do,” he said. Liam rolled his eyes and looked over at Hope. 

“Right,” he said “you go do that,” Shay rolled his eyes and turned to catch up with Anne. he ducked below deck and checked around for her. He eventually found her tucked away in a desolate corner of the ship, sitting down at a small table and reading through that letter again. A loose board creaked below his feet as he approached. He frantically folded the letter up and tucked in away as he turned the corner. 

“There you are,” he said, not bothering to hide the worry in his voice. “How’re you?” he asked. She looked down at her lap and shrugged. 

“As well as I can be at the moment, I suppose,” she said. Shay’s brow furrowed, he moved closer and leaned against the table. 

“Somethin’ seems wrong with you. You’re not actin’ like-” he paused as he looked for the right word. “Well, you” he finished. Anne looked at him, her big blue eyes meeting his. She only met his gaze for a few seconds before looking away and laughing half-heartedly. 

“Is it that obvious?” she asked. He nodded and she looked up at him again. She sighed and sat back in her chair. 

“Something happened in Albany. With some of Hope’s men,” she said. 

“What’s happened?” he asked. she didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked at him with a sweet look in her eyes that made him grateful he had the table for support. The look melted from her face sooner than he would have liked and was replaced with the same troubled look that had plagued her all day. 

“I caught some of them trying to rob a woman,” she said. “they had her pinned to a wall with a knife to her face.” Shay’s face dropped. 

“Dear god…” he said under his breath. 

“She wasn’t the only one either, they’d been extorting people for months, maybe longer!” as she spoke her face grew darker. “And Hope knew-” 

“Wait, what?” in his shock, Shay unintentionally cut her off. “How do you know?” he asked. Anne crossed her arms over her chest. 

“When I confronted her she didn’t even deny it was happening, she seemed more upset about her men’s work being ‘interrupted’” she sighed heavily with her eyes falling to her feet. Shay stared at her, his mind whirring as it processed the information. 

“You’re sure about this?” he asked. She nodded. 

“I spoke to the girl afterward, she and her family told me what Hope’s men have been doing.” he relaxed her arms and looked up at him. “It seems they’ve been doing this for a while. I’m not sure if they’re doing this everywhere, or just in Albany, but-” she cut herself off. 

“It shouldn’t be happening at all.” Shay finished. 

“Exactly,” she said. “It just isn't something an assassin should be doing.” she continued. Shay nodded,

“‘Stay your blade from the flesh of the innocent’” he quoted. Anne nodded. “We’ll have a talk with Hope later,” Shay said. “Has anything else happened?” he asked. Anne was silent for a moment, then her brow suddenly furrowed. 

“Yes, actually,” she said. “Before I found out about what Hope was doing, I was targeting the guard captain. When I got to his house he was already dead.” 

“What? How?” shay asked. Anne shrugged. 

“His mistress, I think. He was alive with her in the house, when she left I found him dead. When she found me in the house she tried to bash my head in with a pan. She must have stabbed him fifty times or more.” she said. Shay swallowed thickly. 

“That’s insane!” he said. 

“It is” she confirmed. 

“Must’ve come as a surprise to him, though. You show up thinkin’ your gonna catch some skirt and instead you catch a knife in your gut!” Anne chuckled. 

“Yeah, it must have come as a shock,” she said. Shay nodded. 

“I’d be pretty upset if you stabbed me like that,” he said. A sickly sweet feeling grew in his stomach when he saw a smile spread across her face. 

“Oh, please!” she said. “If we were lovers you’d be begging for someone to stab you!” Shay chuckled, he looked down at her through half-lidded eyes. 

“Oh, I’d be beggin’ alright! Just for somethin’ very very different,” he said. Anne’s eyebrows shot up and her mouth fell open for a moment. There was a split second of silence between them and Shay was beginning to regret what he said until her eyes fell closed and her laughter echoed off the walls. Shay smiled and chuckled a bit with her. The warm feeling in his gut flared when he saw her smiling. 

“I’m sorry! I just wasn’t expecting that!” she said, still giggling a bit. She looked up at him with a soft look in her eyes. He found himself shifting towards her, unconsciously trying to close the gap between them. She made no effort to move away from him as their laughter faded. 

“Have I ever said you have a pretty smile?” he asked. She was quiet for a second, a grin still on her face. 

“No, I don’t believe you have,” she said quietly. Shay shrugged his shoulders. 

“Well, you do,” he said. “quite a pretty one”. Anne’s eyes shied away from his and she started toying with her hands in her lap. 

“You have quite the easy smile yourself, Shay,” she said. He smiled down at her, leaning down to try and catch her gaze again. It worked for him, her eyes moved back to his and he watched her gaze dart up and down his body. He wondered what was going on in her mind, what she thought of when she saw him. Did she like what she was seeing as much as he liked the sight of her? Shay grinned at her and she looked away again, pulling her lip into her mouth to worry it between her teeth. Whether she liked him or not, he thought, he definitely likes having her close. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much has happened since I last updated. Stay safe and wash your hands, everyone!


	13. Reminiscence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Shay and Anne learn more about one another and Anne gets nostalgic
> 
> Up next: the assassins attend a funeral and Samuel Smith returns from Europe.

Shay took a deep breath as he extended his arm, pistol in hand. He aimed down the sights at the target dummy and squeezed the trigger. The gunpowder ignited with a deafening bang as his hand was jerked backward. His bullet landed in the center of the dummy’s chest, a deadly blow if the dummy had been alive. A small bit of straw escaped the dummy’s body as Shay holstered his pistols. 

“Well done, Shay,” Liam said. “That’ll be enough for today,” the sun was beginning to set over the horizon behind a curtain of clouds and the assassins were beginning to wind down for the day. “Your aim is getting better, I think,” Liam said. Shay didn’t bother to hide his prideful grin. 

“You think?” he asked. Liam glanced over at Shay and playfully rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t go getting a big head, now,” he said. Fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet as the two headed back towards the center of the training ground. Circled around the small firepit were Anne, Kassegowasse, and Chevalier, happily chatting amongst themselves. 

“Evenin’ all,” Shay said as he plopped down on the ground next to Anne. “What’d I miss?” he asked. 

“Chevalier was just telling us about his time on the frontier” Anne explained. Chevalier nodded. 

“Indeed. Those great mountains were a sight to see,” he said. He suddenly chuckled to himself. “We celebrated my younger brother’s birthday while we were there. Got so drunk he couldn’t tell up from down!” Anne smiled. 

“I wish I was around to see that!” she said. “Must have been a good time!” they both were laughing now. 

“It was!” he said. They chuckled for a moment before Anne sudden;y perked up again. 

“Oh, speaking of birthdays!” she said. “A few years ago, on my brothers’ eighth birthday we were traveling from _ Sankt-Peterburg _ to _ Moskva _ . We were staying the night in an inn when they decided to sneak into the kitchen and steal a batch of _ plushki _ the landlady baked. All was forgiven in the end, thank goodness, but it was funny watching her running around looking for them!” Anne smiled to herself, her eyes began to glaze over as she reminisced. 

“What’s it like over there?” Shay asked. Anne snapped from her daze and looked over at him. 

“In Russia? Well-” she paused to gather her response. “I was raised primarily in Sankt-Peterburg, the seat of the Russian empire. Wealth flows through there in countless forms, bookbinders, goldsmiths, merchants of all kinds. It was incredibly busy, too. I couldn’t go out when I was little because I was too easy to lose in a crowd.” the glazed look in her eyes returned as she continued. “When we were traveling in the countryside we’d see farms, towns, wide-open plains, if you went far enough you could see mountains in the distance.” She trailed off and stared into the flames. 

“Do you miss it?” he asked. Chevalier scoffed behind her and Shay did his best to ignore it. Anne turned to look at him, the fire casting harsh shadows across her face. 

“I do,” she said. “It’s home.” Shay fell quiet again, not sure of what to say. Luckily he didn’t need to think too much because he started to feel droplets against his head and shoulders. Anne felt them too, she opened the palm of her hand skyward to test for raindrops. 

“I guess its time to turn in,” she said. Shay nodded and stood up. Kassegowasse and Chevalier followed suit. Chevalier was the first to go, 

“_ Bonne Nuit, _Anne,” he called over his shoulder. 

“_ Á toi aussi_!” she responded. Shay didn’t have time to ask her what she’d said because she was already turning to leave. He scrambled to follow her. They were headed to the same place anyway. He walked next to her as they headed towards the smaller house. 

“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Shay said. “When’s your birthday?” he asked. She looked up at him. 

“Why do you want to know?” she asked suspiciously. Shay shrugged 

“M’just curious! You were talking about your brother’s birthday and it got me wondering!” he said. Anne smiled up at him. 

“ the fifteenth of November,” she said. “You?” 

“September twelfth,” he answered. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said with a grin. They walked in the front door of the house, Shay went straight forward from the door towards his room and Anne turned to go upstairs. “Goodnight, Shay,” she called after him. 

“Goodnight,” he called back. The door closed behind him and Shay shucked off his coat and boots before plopping down into bed with a sigh. November fifteenth, he’ll have to remember that. 

  
  


\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anne hopped out of bed late that morning, she’d tossed and turned all the night before. She got dressed and rebraided her hair before going out. She stepped outside and gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the sunlight. She didn’t see anyone out at first. She assumed they were out training. Anne started to head towards the training ground when Abigail popped her head out of the manor. 

“Anne!” she called. Anne stopped in her tracks and turned towards her.

“What do you need, Abigail?” she asked. She waved for Anne to follow her into the house and turned to go back inside. Anne followed her into the house and up the stairs. 

“I need some help,” she said as she led them into a bedroom. Anne didn’t have time to ask what she needed help with before she saw him. Connor was curled up in bed beneath a pile of blankets. Anne moved closer to the boy to get a better look at him. His breathing was shallow and sweat gleamed on his forehead. 

“He’s been like this for a few days now,” Abigail said. “I haven’t gotten much sleep since then. Could you keep an eye on him while I catch a quick nap? He hates to be alone,” Anne nodded 

“Of course, Abigail,” she said. “Get some rest, I’ll keep an eye on him,” Abigail heaved a

sigh of relief. 

“Thank you!” she said. Anne nodded as Abigail turned to leave. She pulled a chair up to Connor’s bedside and sat down. The boy was fast asleep, curled up in his bed. He’d probably be asleep for a while now, she thought. As she sat at his bedside she thought of her brothers. They were a bit older than Connor, but he still reminded her of them. Connor turned to his opposite side and sighed heavily in his sleep. Anne felt heavy all of a sudden and wondered how long he’d be sick like this. He was young, she thought, he’d get better soon enough. Anne sat back in her chair and looked out the window to watch the sun shine outside and listen to the birds chirp. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plushki are a kind of Russian cinnamon roll. 
> 
> Bon Nuit- good night 
> 
> Á toi aussi- you as well
> 
> the mountains Chevalier is referring to are the Rocky Mountains, it isn't clear whether it was him or one of his brothers that took that journey, though, but I'm going to take a leap and say it was him. he was there in 1743-1744, roughly a decade prior to when he told this story to Anne in 1754


	14. Boxes and Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: the assassins attend a funeral, Samuel Smith returns from Europe, and Anne almost starts a fistfight with Chevalier. 
> 
> Up next: Anne and Shay have a conversation about guilt 
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains depictions of child death and graphic depictions of murder if you don't like that skip this chapter.

The rain pelted them as the preacher talked. Anne could barely hear him over the rain and her own thoughts. Connor’s fever had grown worse over the next few days and he lost any appetite he had. In his last hours, the poor boy was too exhausted to cry anymore, he lay motionless in his bed, staring at the wall with half-lidded eyes. His mother never left his side, Anne brought her food and other supplies but only Abigail cared for her son. When Connor first got sick Anne assumed he would recover quickly and be fine. She hadn’t realized it was typhoid, she thought it was just a fever. When he got worse she helped set up a cot so Abigail could keep an eye on him day and night, she wasn’t there for very long, Connor was dead in days. The morning after Connor was buried, Abigail started to show signs as well. That afternoon she was practically doubled over in pain, clutching her belly. It was a downward spiral from there, the soil was barely settled on Connor’s grave when Abigail’s was dug. Now the colonial assassins stood before a pair of graves. Anne stared down at Abigail’s open grave, the rain and mud beginning to stain the wooden coffin. Neither grave had a headstone yet, they wouldn’t be delivered for another week or so. 

The preacher finished his sermon and left them to their grieving. Gradually the others left as well. First was Chevalier, then Kassegowasse, then Hope followed by Liam and Shay. Anne remained for only a few more minutes before backing away, leaving Achilles alone with his grief. She went back to the guest house and dragged herself upstairs. She gently closed the bedroom door behind her. Her hair and shirt were soaked from the rain and the linen of her shirt was beginning to chafe uncomfortably against her skin. 

Anne draped her coat over the back of a chair and pulled off her shirt. Leaving it to dry on her bed as she dug around in her chest and pulled out a dry shirt. Once she had a clean shirt on she sat down in the chair. She leaned back far enough to rest the base of her skull on the back of the chair. She heaved a heavy sigh as she stared up at the ceiling, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Death was an unavoidable fact of life, but this was different. Connor and Abigail were both strong and hale, Connor was only seven years old with his entire life in front of him. Abigail was thirty-one, with a family that loved her. Of all the people to die, they should have been the last. Anne took deep breaths as she stared at the ceiling. She couldn’t imagine what Achilles was going through, she thought. If Alexi or Boris had died like that-. She cut herself off at that thought, it’d only make her feel worse. She brought her hand to her face and rubbed at her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. She pulled herself from her thoughts and got up from the chair. She opened a drawer on the desk and took the letter from it. She opened it and reread the letter: 

‘Anne, 

I hope you’re getting on well, the others and I have been well since last we saw you. Lately, we’ve been working on a new project for Mr.Byrnes. I’ve no idea what he’d need all this fabric for. You should see it, it takes up several baskets in our sitting room. We’re all working day and night on it. I’m not complaining, he’s paying us well for it. I hope you and your family are doing well, both in the colonies and abroad. I hope you’ve adjusted to the colonies well, I’m not sure how different it is from Russia, though. What’s it like over there? Angeline, Grace, and Gloria send their love as well. 

Your friend, 

Jane.’ 

Anne smiled down at the parchment. She’d been writing to Jane and the others since she left Albany, there was an element of excitement whenever one of her letters arrived. Up until now, Anne had never had any friends outside the assassins and it was a refreshing change from her father’s letters. She dug around in the drawer for a blank sheet of parchment and set it on the desktop. She pulled out a quill and dipped the tip in an inkwell. 

‘Jane, 

All is not well, I’m sorry to say. Two of my family were buried recently, Typhoid fever took their lives in a very short time. We held their funeral earlier today and we’re all having trouble coming to terms with the loss. I’m glad to hear you and the others aren’t short on work, it’s more than can be said for many back home. Are those cutthroats still bothering you and the others? I think back to what happened often and it worries me that you are still being extorted and harassed. I look forward to your letters more than I know how to express, I’ve never had anyone to write to outside of my family and the change of pace is nice. I hope this letter finds you and the others well. 

Your friend, 

Anne.’ 

Anne folded the letter and tucked it into an envelope and sealed it closed, leaving it on the desk to be sent next time the courier came by. She thought about Jane and her housemates, how hard they worked and they were forced to live under threat of Hope’s men stealing from them or worse. Then she thought of captain MacArthur. Anne didn’t take his life herself, but she’d planned to. The thought of it made her stomach churn. She’d planned to murder a man that dedicated his time to protecting innocent people from Hope’s reign of terror. Her thoughts circled back around to the puppetmaster behind all of this, Hope. It was Hope’s idea to assassinate MacArthur and bribe his replacement to further cement her gang’s presence in Albany. Since their argument in Albany Hope had squirreled herself away in her work, immediately leaving for New York once they returned from Albany and only returning to the homestead when she got word of Connor’s death, even then, she was cold towards Anne and the two women did their best to avoid one another. Anne wondered if Hope was doing the same thing she’d done in Albany in New York, it made her sick to think that more people would be subjected to the same hell Jane and lord knows how many others had been. She wanted to speak to Achilles about what happened in Albany, but it wasn’t the time, not when the graves of his son and wife were so fresh. She’d bide her time, for now, she thought.

A month would pass before Anne would speak to Achilles again, even then she didn’t get the opportunity to speak to him about Hope. she lightly stepped into his office and quietly closed the door behind her. 

“You wanted to see me?” she asked. Achilles nodded, sitting behind his desk with piles of papers scattered in front of him. 

“Indeed,” he said, his voice thin and gravelly. “I’ve just received a letter from De La Verendrye, he tells me that he and Le Chasseur have discovered the whereabouts of Samuel Smith.” he paused to straighten some of the papers on his desk. “Shay and Liam have already begun to prepare the Morrigan. You are to accompany them to St.John’s, find Smith and the artifact he carries.” the way he said this made it clear to Anne this wasn’t a request. 

“Of course, Mentor,” she said. She turned to go, closing the door behind her as she left. Anne heaved a sigh as she walked down the stairs to leave the manor. They’d waited two long years for Smith to return from Europe, he’d fled the continent with the precursor box after Shay assassinated Lawrence Washington. Anne went back to her room and packed up a few things: her notebooks, some clothes, and tools to maintain her hidden blades. She tucked them all into a small bag and headed down the hill towards the docks where the Morrigan was anchored. Shay was milling around, cracking jokes with his men as he helped them pack supplies onto the Morrigan and make other preparations for the upcoming trip. The sight of his smile made her heart skip a beat. Anne hurried past and stowed her things below deck and aided the preparations in any way she could. The sun was beginning its descent into the sky by the time they were ready to set sail for St.Johns.

The next morning Anne stood to Shay’s left while he piloted the Morrigan with Liam to his right. The first few days they spent at the helm were largely silent, the weight of Connor and Abigail’s deaths still weighed heavily on their shoulders. On the fifth morning, Liam broke the depressing silence. 

“It’s been so grim about the homestead since miss Abigail and little Connor have passed,” he said bluntly. Anne heard Shay sigh. 

“Aye,” he said. “I’ve seen Achilles cryin’”. Liam looked over at Shay 

“And why shouldn’t he?” he asked. 

“It’s just that-” Shay cut himself off like he wasn’t sure what to say. “He doesn’t look sad, he looks furious, it’s unsettling,” he said. 

“He’s struggling with the loss,” Liam explained. “We all are,” Anne nodded, 

“Grief has a strange way with people,” she said. “Some can’t stop weeping, some get angry, while others shut off completely,” she said. Shay looked over at her, 

“I know. But it’s been months, and we’ve done little but search for this blasted manuscript and box!” he huffed. 

“Le Chasseur has a lead on the box, we’re to meet him and Chevalier in Saint John’s,” Liam said. Shay huffed. 

“Chevalier too? No hope of cheering me up then,” he said grimly. Another silence fell over them as the bitter northern winds bit into them like a hungry animal. Anne thought of Chevalier and how he’s treated Shay in the past. She remembered Chevalier calling him a ‘Cabbage farmer’ when they met in La Joye. she wasn’t entirely sure what that was supposed to mean but it probably wasn’t a compliment. How many more encounters like that did they have? And was it only words? Anne didn’t know. Shay’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. 

“When Achilles said whoever had the artifacts could access sites of great power, what did he mean?” he asked. Liam shrugged 

“I’m not sure I understand it myself, Shay,” he said. “I had a long talk with Adewale about that. He believes the box can be activated to project words or images.” Shay cocked his head. 

“Like a magic lantern?” he asked Lia’s brow furrowed. 

“What’d you mean? He asked. Shay looked over at Liam 

“You know the magic lantern shows father Conolly put on in the church basement?” he asked. “The box had a candle in it, I think. He put these little glass plates in front and you could see the images projected on the wall. Like cathedrals in Rome, bright and near as big as life.” Liam mulled over what Shay said for a moment before responding. 

“Ah, yeah, I suppose it is,” he said. “Except that it interprets the strange language of the manuscript, too. If the plate were of a banner in Latin, we’d see it in English.” Shay’s brow furrowed as he turned the wheel to correct the ship’s path. 

“How’s that possible?” he asked. Liam shrugged 

“ Who knows,” he said. “I fear we may never truly understand how any of the pieces of Eden work.” Anne nodded. 

“I’m hoping we’ll get a better understanding of them when we find whatever the manuscript and box will lead us to.” she said. 

“We have to find them first,” Liam said. The three of them stood together and talked until the sun started to go down. 

“I’m going to go grab a bite, I’ll be back,” she said. Shay smiled and watched her go before continuing his conversation with Liam. 

“Where in the world has the most beautiful girls?” he asked. Liam rolled his eyes. 

“I suppose it depends on your vision of beauty. A damsel from Corfu and one from Oslo are as different as chalk and cheese, but both can be lovely,” he said. Shay looked over at Liam and grinned.

“See, opinions like that give a man a reputation for wisdom,” he said. 

“Ah, thank you,” he said. 

“I would have just said Havanna.” Shay continued. “The girls there have lusty buttocks and bosoms and feel no shame in putting them on display. But that’s no slight against our lasses from home!” Liam spotted something from the corner of his eye and grinned, Shay assumed he was looking at one of the crew.

“I suppose,” Liam said. 

“I think Galway has the nicest ones, fair and modest, always willing to spot you a penny for an ale.” 

“You don’t say?” he asked. Liam was still grinning as Shay continued. 

“And then there’s the maids I met in Lisbon. Destined for the convent, they were, all dark-eyed and kindly dispositioned, If only I’d spoke Portuguese. Not that we spent much of our nights talkin’!” Liam’s smile suddenly died as his eyes followed whatever he was watching until he forced his attention back to Shay.

“Opinions like that give a man an entirely different reputation,” he said flatly. Liam’s eyes traced a path across the ship deck and then lost whatever they were following and instead stared out into the horizon.

“What’re you lookin’ at?” Shay asked. Liam was quiet for a few seconds before he answered. 

“Nothin’,” he said. The two fell into a long silence as they approached St.Johns. Shay started to feel Anne’s absence, she said she’d be back but that was a while ago. When they got closer to St.John’s Shay noticed the Gierfaut moored not too far from shore. The crew of the Morrigan milled about the deck as they prepared to dock. Shay pushed Anne from his mind and focused on docking the ship. When all was done Shay tuned his crew loose on the town and turned to Liam. 

“Where’s Anne gone off to?” he asked as they walked down the docks towards a tavern. Liam pursed his lips and looked back towards the ship. 

“Still on the Morrigan, I think,” he said. Shay hummed and they kept walking.

“Wonder what she’s doing,” he said idly. They came off of the docks and turned down the street. 

“What’d you mean?” Liam asked. 

“Nothin’, just wonderin’ why she’s been gone so long is all,” he said. Liam went quiet as they walked into the tavern and sat down to drink. 

“Le Chasseur and Chevalier are staying in a small house not far from here,” Liam said. “We’ll meet them tomorrow morning, for now.” he held up his drink to toast. “Let’s relax for a bit.” Shay smiled as their mugs clunked together. He glanced over at the bar and caught the barmaid looking at him. Her eyes shot away the moment they made eye contact. He waited for her to glance back at him to give her a smile. The rum hit his tongue and Shay felt the tension in his shoulders slowly begin to melt. 

_________________

When Shay woke up he was in what looked like an Inn. he sat up in bed and looked to his side. Lying next to him, still asleep, was the barmaid from the previous night. Mary was her name. Her long blonde hair was down and splayed out around her head like a halo, and the sun spilling in from the window cast her in a flawless golden glow. Shay creeped out of bed and got dressed, being careful not to wake her. He rounded the bed to her side and leaned down, gently kissing her forehead before slipping out the door. He walked downstairs and out onto the street. It was still early enough in the day that most people were still at home and the streets were largely empty. When he got back to the Morrigan he found Anne and Liam there waiting for him. Liam waved to him as he and Anne joined Shay on the docks. 

“There you are,” he greeted. The three of them started to walk from the docks back towards town.

“Did you miss me?” Shay asked Liam rolled his eyes, 

“No more than usual,” he said. Shay snickered as the three of them began to climb the hill where the lighthouse was. Shay looked over at Anne and his smile died a bit. She kept her head high and her shoulders back but her jaw and shoulders looked extremely tense and her eyes had a hard look about them. 

“Are you all right?” he asked her. She looked over at him as they walked. 

“Hmm? Oh, yes, I’m fine, I just-” She paused to collect her thoughts. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night,” she said. 

“Neither did Shay, from what I heard,” Liam said. Shay cringed and looked over to Anne. She didn’t say anything to that, she just kept her eyes ahead of her and focused on their path. Eventually, they made it to the top of the hill and Shay found Chevalier and Le Chasseur sitting together at the base of the lighthouse, passing bottles of liquor between themselves. 

“Chevalier!” Shay called. “What’s happened to your vessel?” he asked. Chevalier looked back at the trio with a drink in hand. 

“I got myself into a bit of a scrape,” Chevalier said. “Sent three ship and all hand to their watery grave! And the Gierfaut nearly followed them down!” his voice lowered to a near growl as he tossed the bottle he was holding to the ground like an angry toddler. Shay recoiled from chevalier and looked to the other Frenchman. 

“I trust your fate has been better, Le Chasseur?” he asked. 

“Indeed,” he said with a wicked grin on his face. “My sources tell me that Samuel Smith has searched far and wide for answers on how to make that strange box work. He just returned from Europe-” he paused to pick up another bottle. 

“Where is he now?” Shay asked. Le chasseur stood back up to his full height and uncorked the bottle. 

“Refitting his Schooner,” he said, pulling a map out of his pocket with the hand that wasn’t holding a bottle. He handed Shay the map and pointed to a small island in the Atlantic “If you hurry, you can find him there.” Chevalier snatched the map from Shay to get a look for himself. Le Chasseur gave Shay a look before continuing. “Oh! Remember those plans? Well, I had an engineer build that marvelous weapon for your ship. Master Puckles guns fire more shots than an artillery brigade and twice as fast!” Shay looked down at the Morrigan to see men unloading the guns on the deck. He smiled despite Chevalier rudely shoving the map into his chest. 

“Many thanks!” he said. Le Chasseur nodded. 

“Anything for my ‘hooded friends’,” he said. Le Chasseur walked off with Liam to help with the installation of the Puckle guns, leaving him, Anne and Chevalier alone. Chevalier waited until Liam and Le Chasseur were out of earshot before muttering

“putain d'éleveur de chou”. He muttered. Anne’s brow furrowed and she looked over at him. 

“Euh? Qui?” she asked. Shay had no idea what they were talking about, but whatever Chevalier said, he was pretty sure Anne didn’t like it. He gestured towards Shay. 

“l'irlandais, qui d'autre!” he didn’t wait for Anne to respond before turning to walk back down the hill. Anne glared daggers at the back of his head and followed him and Shay followed, not wanting to be left behind. 

“pourquoi si grossier, Chevalier?” she called after him. “c'est un frère d'armes, non?” Chevalier scoffed ahead of them. 

“ça ne change rien!” he said. Anne looked furious now, she jogged to catch up to him and grabbed his arm. 

“It does! How can a man your age treat a brother the way a child would treat an ant!-” Chevalier whipped around on his heel and stared Anne down. 

“He is no brother of mine!” he growled down at her. They were practically nose to nose at this point. 

“He is,” she said. “Like it or not. I’ve been here two years and he’s never given me any reason to think him disloyal or-” 

“Or perhaps there’s another reason?” Chevalier huffed. Anne’s face faltered for a moment before hardening again. 

“What are you implying?” She asked. 

“You know exactly what I’m implying, you-” they were suddenly pulled apart by Liam 

“That’s enough!” he said. Liam turned to Chevalier. 

“The repairs on the Gerfaut are nearly finished, the quartermaster needs to speak with you,” he said, keeping himself squarely between the two. Chevalier huffed and skulked towards the docks, muttering to himself in French as he went. Liam turned his attention towards Anne and Shay. 

“What was that?” he asked. Shay shrugged and looked at Anne. 

“I’d had enough of that insufferable bastard,” Anne said. “It was time someone called him on his behavior.” Liam sighed, 

“Was now really the best time?” he asked. Anne crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Maybe not,” she admitted. “But I couldn’t bite my tongue anymore.” Liam sighed and looked over at Shay. 

“Couldn’t you have waited until after Smith?” he asked. “Because Chevalier will be joining us in our search.” Anne’s stomach sank. 

“When did you decide this?” she asked. 

“Chevalier decided this just before we arrived.” he said. 

“Without consulting you or Shay?” she jabbed. 

“He knows these waters better and he has more authority-” Anne cut him off

“And that gives him the excuse to treat others like the scum of the earth?” she asked. “ I don’t care who you are or what authority you have, you don’t-” Liam cut her off. 

“Enough!” he said. “Like it or not he’s coming with us. If you really can’t stand him that much then avoid him!” he turned to Shay. 

“You heard Le Chasseur, if we want to catch Smith we have to hurry.” Shay nodded and the three of them walked silently towards the docks. Shay felt Anne’s rage emanating from her like an inferno burning in her chest, contained only by force of will alone. When they boarded the Morrigan Chevalier was already waiting for Liam and Shay at the helm. There wasn’t enough room for the four of them so Anne opted to duck below deck. Shay had half a mind to ask her to replace Chevalier, but he kept his mouth shut and took the wheel. He’d talk to her later. 

“Shall we, gentlemen?” Shay asked as the Morrigan pulled out of port. 

“We need to find the ‘Equitas’” Liam said. “That’s Smith’s vessel.” 

“The ‘Equitas’” Shay echoed. 

“And before I forget,” Liam said. “I took the liberty of ordering some improvements. The Morrigan now has a ram that can cut through the ice itself.” Chevalier hummed.

“I have heard of such technology but have never witnessed its operation.” 

“What about Smith, Then” Liam asked, “is he close by?” as if one que, the masts of a ship could be seen over the waves. Shay pulled out his spyglass as the Morrigan got closer. Through the foggy glass he could clearly see the word ‘Equitas’ painted on the stern. 

“There he is!” Liam shouted. The Equitas began to turn away from the Morrigan. 

“Fortunate timing,” Chevalier said. “Lady luck never ceases to smile on you 

“He’s seen us! Give chase!” Shay shouted.

“Withhold your fire!” Chevalier demanded. “We must not damage the box or risk losing it to the sea!” The Equitas took a sharp left turn and disappeared behind a corner. 

“Can’t this bucket go any faster?” Chevalier yelled. Shay rolled his eyes, 

“At least my ship is still seaworthy, Chevalier!” he pointed out. 

“Our target is a smart man, but out of his element here” Liam said. Chevalier nodded in agreement 

“Samuel Smith is the templar’s treasurer, what he’s doing in these waters is beyond me.” Shay shrugged as the Morrigan rounded the corner, spotting the Equitas ahead. 

“Maybe he came here to meet someone? Or ran into your pirates?” he said. Chevalier shook his head. 

“If one of my allies attacked him, I would have known about it.” 

“He’s refitting his ship, so something must’ve happened.” Shay said. 

“Well he’s back from a long voyage,” Liam said. “Now’s our chance to get him.” 

Shay glanced over at Chevalier only to see a wicked grin spreading across his face. 

“Smith controls much of the templar’s wealth, doesn’t he?” he asked. “With him out of the way…” 

“Washington entrusted the precursor box to him,” Shay pointed out. “He probably still has it.” Liam nodded 

“Shay’s right, the box comes first.” 

“We can’t sink him, we’ll have to board his ship, or force him to beach,” Shay said. They continued to chase after the Equitas until it came under a massive glacial arch, below it was a thick layer of ice no ship should be able to pass through. A glimmer of hope came to Shay’s mind before it was quickly crushed. The ice cracked and was pushed away from the ship by a ram. Shay cursed under his breath. 

“It seems you’re not the only one equipped with such a ram, Shay!” Chevalier said. Shay’s grip on the wheel tightened. 

“Let us hope ours fares just as well,” he said flatly. Shay silently braced himself as the Morrigan’s ram made contact with the ice. The ice popped and crackled as it was broken apart by the ram, but the Morrigan passed through intact. 

“It worked!” Liam said, “The way is clear!” 

“Once more your fortune holds,” Chevalier grumbled. “But do not waste time congratulating yourself. Smith is getting away!”. The Morrigan pushed through the ice and turned the corner to follow the Equitas. Shay was so focused on Smith he didn’t see the ships to his right. 

“It’s an ambush!” Liam yelled. 

“Envoie ces démons en enfer!” Chevalier growled. “Smith must not escape!” Shay didn’t bother to reply, he was too busy maneuvering the Morrigan. He hadn’t reacted in time, one of the ships was already barreling towards them. It rammed the Morrigan hard enough to knock Shay off of his feet. By the time he got back up again, British soldiers were already boarding. He clambered to his feet and took a second to regain his balance. Adrenaline began to course through his veins as he drew his sword to fight. He scrambled out of the path of a soldier’s blade and before the soldier could pull it back Shay lunged forwards and sank his blade into the soldier’s side. He wailed in pain as Shay’s sword slipped out of his abdomen. His legs buckled under his weight and he crumpled to the floor. His blood stained the wood beneath him as Shay looked to the next man. He spotted Anne on the deck too, sword in hand. She’d burst out from below deck and immediately ran her sword through the back of a man’s neck. 

Shay darted to the side to dodge a bayonet, nearly falling over in the process. The musket fired with a deafening boom. The ringing in Shay’s ears drowned all other sounds. Through it all, he thought he heard a woman scream, but he didn’t have time to figure that bit out. Shay and his crew managed to push the invading force back towards their own ship, where they were boarded themselves. Their defenses were quickly crushed and Shay ordered his men back to the Morrigan as quickly as possible. They fired a round of cannon fire into the ship for good measure before going to follow Smith. They went ahead and turned a corner to see the Equitas waiting there. 

“There's Smith!” Liam yelled. “He’s moving again!” 

“No doubt he hoped to be a spectator to your demise,” Chevalier said. Shay grinned 

“I’m glad to disappoint him,” he said, “And he’s still within reach.” The Equitas turned to run but the Morrigan was gaining on them. As the Equitas turned a sharp corner, large barrels of oil were poured out behind them. Once they were a safe distance away, a man on the stern threw a torch to ignite the oil, setting the surface of the water ablaze. 

“What wickedness is this?” Liam growled. 

“Another Templar tactic,” Chevalier said. “They can cover whole stretches of ocean with their flames.” 

“Careful, Shay!” Liam cautioned, “We could be burnt to cinders!” 

“It’s nothing more than a last desperate throw of the dice!” Shay said. “He knows we have him!” Shay followed the Equitas, Carefully weaving between the patches of flame floating on the waves. The Equitas docked at a small port not far ahead. 

“Now we know where he was headed,” Liam said. “Bastard has an encampment here.” Shay maneuvered the Morrigan closer to shore. 

“Follow him on land!” Chevalier ordered. “Do not even think of firing the ship’s weapons near that precious box!” Shay rolled his eyes. 

“I’ll take care of this,” he said. Shay darted for cover the moment his feet touched solid earth. The whole place was swarming with british soldiers, why the military was even here was beyond him. Up ahead there was a manned guard tower with patrols circling around it. Shay couldn’t get to the ladder that led into the tower directly, but he did notice that there was an outstretched tree branch that he could use to get into the tower without alerting the guards below. He waited for the nearest patrol to pass before going for the tree. He scrambled up the trunk and climbed as silently as he could until he got to the branch he was looking for. He jumped from the branch and landed on the platform on the balls of his feet. The watchman was turned away from him when he landed, thank goodness, but he wouldn’t stay that way for long. 

Shay deployed his hidden blade and lunged forward, sinking the blade into the watchman’s back. He clapped his hand over the watchman’s mouth to muffle his pained screaming until he went limp in Shay’s arms. He gently lay the dead man on the floor before scanning his surroundings from his new vantage point. There was a path up ahead that led to a small camp, but the path there was patrolled by soldiers. Shay wouldn’t make it up the main path without being spotted, that was obvious. But, he thought, there had to be another way. His eyes traced a path from the tree he climbed to get into the watchtower through a long copse of trees that ended just outside the camp, maybe if he timed it right he could get in. his eyes moved back towards the docks where he spotted a group of barrels not far from the watchtower marked with a ‘danger!’ sign. Gunpowder. Shay pulled out his pistol and loaded it, all the while keeping his eyes on the barrels. The sound of his pistol firing was overpowered by the boom of the gunpowder exploding. The guards and soldiers, panicked by the sudden noise, rushed to the docks where the explosion originated. Shay clambered back into the tree and quietly edged his way through the trees, carefully timing jumps to not alert the guards below. His heart was pounding in his ears when he dropped into the camp. 

When Shay entered the tent Smith whirled around and stared him down. Samuel Smith was a chubby man in his forties, and he wore the effects of an easy life plainly. 

“S-stop!” he quivered. “Think about what you’re doing, Assassin! Your brotherhood is using you!” Shay didn’t respond, he braced himself for what he was about to do and plunged his hidden blade into Smith’s chest. Smith cried out in pain before jerking his forehead forwards and headbutting Shay in the face. His vision blurred and he stumbled backward, giving Smith enough time to snatch the box off his desk and limp from the tent. Shay’s eyes came back into focus and he rushed out of the tent after Smith. It wasn’t difficult to catch up with him, he hadn’t made it out of camp before Shay caught him and rammed his blade into his back between his shoulder blades. Smith cried out again and fell forwards onto his chest, dropping the box in the process. 

The box clattered across the frozen ground as Smith frantically tried to crawl to it. Shay spotted the box and went to pick it up. It was a small, rectangular box that looked to be made of wood. Smith looked panicked when Shay picked it up. 

“No!” he begged. “Do you even know what that is?” 

“An ancient artifact,” Shay said as he reverently looked the box over. “A treasure from those who came before.” Smith coughed as blood slowly began to fill his lungs. 

“Yes,” he wheezed, “but it matters not, some of the greatest scientific mind in all Europe could not make it work” he immediately broke out into another coughing fit as he tried to roll over onto his back without causing himself further pain. Shay kneeled down to Smith’s level. He was still coughing and wheezing as he tried to turn over.

“You. you will regret this.” he whimpered. Shay swallowed thickly and deployed his blade for the final time, he quickly sank it into Smith’s throat. He choked and gagged violently, coughing and wheezing more vigorously before the last of his strength left his body in the blood that was quickly beginning to pool around him. Shay stood back up to his full height and looked back to the box. 

“Now all I need is the manuscript and all shall be revealed,” he said to nobody. His musings were interrupted by the footsteps of approaching soldiers. Shay tucked the box into his coat and scrambled up the nearest tree. The soldiers saw Smith and began to panic and shout for help, but Shay was already on his way back to the Morrigan, he had what he came for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> French translations:  
putain d'éleveur de chou- Damn cabbage farmer  
Euh? Qui- huh? who?  
l'irlandais, qui d'autre!- The irishman, who else?  
pourquoi si grossier, Chevalier- Why so rude, Chevalier?  
c'est un frère d'armes, non- He's a brother in arms, isn't he?  
ça ne change rien- It doesn't change anything!  
Envoie ces démons en enfer!- Send these devils to hell! 
> 
> here's a nice, long chapter for you to read in quarantine.


	15. Guilt and failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Shay and Anne have a conversation about guilt 
> 
> Up Next: Shay kills Wardrop, the manuscript is recovered, and Shay and Anne have a conversation about the meaning of the creed.

With the box tucked safely in his coat, Shay scrambled up the nearest tree to avoid any returning guards. They were bound to finish their investigation soon and return to their posts. Shay crept through the trees as he headed back towards the Morrigan. A young soldier in a red uniform passed below him as he headed back towards the camp. Shay quietly braced himself for the upcoming chaos. His feet were making contact with the floor of the watchtower when he heard the yelling. Shay watched the other soldiers scramble to see what was going on, leaving behind only a few men. Four, Shay counted, there were four men. Shay’s limbs were beginning to feel heavy as he thought of how to get past them. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a smoke bomb. Shay watched as the men walked about the main path that led back to the docks, but not getting close enough together for all of them to be blinded by the smoke. Shay huffed, dreading the thought of having to kill more people today. 

Shay braced and made a compromise with himself. He waited for one of the men to get close enough to another before lining up his shot. The bomb went off and dispelled a cloud of blinding smoke. The two of them rubbed at their eyes, coughing and wheezing as the smoke inflamed their lungs. The other two cursed and ran to help their crippled comrades. That’s when Shay chose to strike. He deployed his hidden blade and leaped from the watchtower. None of the men were aware of Shay’s presence until he landed on one of them. The man immediately collapsed beneath Shay’s weight, his blade finishing him off quickly and cleanly. Shay whirled around and sank his blade into the other man’s chest, sending him to the ground. By now the smoke was beginning to clear, but the soldier’s eyes were still clouded and weeping from the smoke. While they were weakened Shay turned and ran towards his ship.

His feet hit the Morrigan’s deck with a pair of heavy thuds. He didn’t stop to catch his breath before dragging himself to the wheel. The Morrigan was pulling away from shore when soldiers began running back down the path and shouting. 

“I’ve got the precursor box,” Shay said. “Smith’s dead.” Liam nodded 

“Well done, Shay,” he said. Shay shrugged. 

“Where’s Chevalier?” he asked. 

“Returning to Le Gierfaut,” he said. “We’ll have to celebrate without him, I’m afraid” Shay suddenly stiffened. 

“I don’t much feel like celebrating, Liam!” he said. “I know we have to get these artifacts back, but at what cost?” he asked. “Samuel Smith… he could barely hold his sword straight! Killin’ him was-” Liam cut him off 

“Necessary,” he said bluntly. Shay sighed. 

“But-” Liam wouldn’t let him finish. 

“But nothing! Smith was a dangerous man, a templar! And what’s worse, he had the precursor box. You should be proud of yourself, Shay.” he said. The pit in Shay’s stomach grew a little deeper when he said that. There was no pride in murder, he knew that. But the persistent exhaustion was spreading from his body to his mind and sapped any energy he had to argue. 

“Perhaps,” he said flatly. 

“We should head for Albany now,” Liam said. “James Wardrop, the fellow Lawrence Washington entrusted the manuscript to will be there.” Shay stayed silent, keeping his eyes forward and keeping the Morrigan on course. Liam kept talking. “Kassegowasse reported that James Wardrop rooted out many tribes from their ancestral lands. We have proof that he’s behind countless massacres. He’s one of the most devious and ruthless men in the colonies. He uses the letter of the law to serve his purposes, and when the law does not bend to him he gets lawmakers to bend it for him. Mark my words, Shay: James Wardrop is a bureaucrat, he doesn’t care how his actions affect others” Shay didn’t say anything, he didn’t want to argue with him right now. They sailed on until midnight when Shay left the wheel to go below deck. He swung by the kitchen and picked up some food before squirreling himself away in his cabin. 

He took the box from his coat and set it on his desk, so much bloodshed over such a tiny little thing, he thought. He sat at his desk and stared down at his food, his stomach was howling but he couldn’t bring himself to eat. Smith’s words kept echoing in his mind. ‘You’ll regret this!’ Smith couldn’t have fought Shay off even if he’d been armed. And neither could Washington, he thought. He swallowed thickly and buried his hands in his face. His fingertips rubbed at his closed eyes until splashes of color began to zip across his vision. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling, the candlelight cast little, flickering shadows across it. He sat up and pushed the bowl away from him, giving up on any hope of eating. Shay got up from his chair, the floor beneath him creaking as he walked to the door. He walked out into the night air and crossed the deck. He ducked below deck and walked around, weaving between the crates, tools, and men. He froze when he heard someone groan. It was pitched higher than any man Shay’d ever heard. He dragged his feet forward and turned the corner only to see Anne facing away from him sitting in a rickety chair, her hand pressing against her side. 

Shay lifted his hand and lightly knocked his knuckles against the wall. She jumped and winced at the sudden movement. She carefully swiveled in her chair to look at him. Her brow was knotted and her mouth pursed into a thin line as she turned. 

“Shay,” she said. “You’re back.” Shay moved from the wall and closer to her. He quickly glanced around and pulled a chair up to sit closer to her. 

“Are you alright?” he asked. She nodded and pulled her hand away from her side. The wound was hidden behind her shirt and coat, but he assumed it was bandaged. 

“Caught a bullet when we were boarded,” she said. She rushed to calm him when she saw him tense. “Nothing bad!” she insisted. She leaned forward and gently rested her hand on his knee to catch his attention. “It’ll leave a scar, but the doctor says I’ll be fine.” Shay tried to force his shoulders to relax, only half succeeding. He looked down at her hand and covered it with one of his own.

“You’re sure you’re alright?” he asked. She smiled weakly and nodded.

“I’m sure,” she said. There was a brief silence before she spoke again. “Did you find Smith?” She asked. Shay’s face fell. 

“I did,” he confirmed. “He’s dead.” He couldn't bring himself to meet her eyes, instead, he stared down at the floor. 

“Are you alright, Shay?” she asked. He dragged himself from his sulking and forced himself to look at her. 

“It’s just-” he stopped. He wasn’t sure what to say to her. “Smith. He... he didn’t- couldn’t fight me! You’d know if you were there. Killing him just feels... wrong.” he said. His eyes drifted away from her again, instead of focusing on the floor. “Liam says I ought to be proud, but… I don’t. How can I be proud of something like that!-” Shay’s voice was steadily rising as he grew more and more upset. He froze mid-sentence when he felt the soft palm of her hand against his cheek. He tensed for a moment, not sure of what she was going to do. 

“Listen to me.” she insisted. “The work we do for humanity is something we should be proud of: The preservation of freedom. But what we do to achieve it isn’t. Murder is a sacrifice we make for the greater good, a sacrifice that should never be taken lightly. And it’s most definitely never something we should take pride in. there’s no shame in feeling guilty, Shay, none at all.”. There was silence for a moment after she finished before Shay felt a bit of weight lift from his shoulders. A warm feeling spread through his veins and warmed him from the inside out. He turned his face into her palm and kissed it with a reverence usually reserved for the sacred. his eyes trailed up her arm and to her face. Her lips were pulled into a gentle smile that made him want to melt.

“Thank you,” he whispered. 

“Of course,” she said. “I’m always here, Shay, if you need to talk.” Shay nodded as she pulled her hand away from his face. 

“Thank you,” he said again, it was all he could think to say. Anne sighed and pulled her hand away. 

“You should get some sleep.,” she said. Shay’s stomach growled again. “And maybe eat something, too,” she added. Shay nodded.

“Aye, maybe I should.” He looked down at his lap. His heart skipped a beat when he realized he’d never let go of her hand. He reluctantly released her hand and stood up. 

“G’night, Annie,” He said. She smiled up at him. 

“Goodnight, Shay,” she said. He turned away from her and wove back through the ship until he was above deck in his cabin. 

________________________________

Anne watched him go, she waited until he was far enough away before letting out a heavy sigh. What was Liam thinking? Who in their right mind would be proud of something like that? She thought of how upset Shay seemed, she’d known him for two years and she’d never seen him like that. She felt her face heating again when she thought of how he leaned into her touch and kissed her hand. She’d enjoyed his attention more than she’d like to admit, far more, in fact. She thought back to how she touched him earlier, how the little touches spiraled into bigger ones. that wasn't even the first time that'd happened! she scolded herself. She kept finding herself wanting to be closer to him, it felt strangely natural to her. A little voice in the back of her head shouted for her to control herself. It reminded her of the promise she'd made to herself way back in New York as she hunted Monro. She told herself not to get attached to him and she was failing miserably. Anne winced and pressed her hand to her side. She'd deal with it later. Her entire body felt heavy and the pain in her side was incessant. She stood up from her chair, doing her best to ignore the throbbing in her side as she crossed the room to her bed. She carefully lowered herself into bed and curled up beneath the blanket. Her thoughts began to slow with her breathing and her eyes drifted closed. 

A thick darkness surrounded Anne and the air felt heavy in her lungs. She looked around but couldn’t see anything. She extended her arm out in front of her, spreading out and wiggling her fingers. She could feel them moving but she couldn’t see them. Her arm dropped back to her side as she started to walk around. She stumbled forward in the dark, arms ahead of her to find any obstacles that would trip her up. They found nothing as she walked. Anne walked on and on finding and hearing nothing until her feet got caught on something. She didn’t regain her balance in time and fell forward. Her knees and hands struck the cold, hard ground painfully. She groaned and crawled over whatever had tripped her. The low groan it let out made her blood freeze. Her heart jumped into her throat and she scrambled to her feet. She could feel her heart beating in her ears. She looked down into the darkness towards where she’d been tripped. At least that's where she thought she’d been tripped. Another groan came from behind her, this one was different than the first, it sounded more like a gurgle than a groan like there was something stuck in their throat. 

Anne jumped and turned to sprint away from where the sound came from. Her feet fell heavily against the ground and the echoes of her footsteps rang in her ears as she went. She ran until she couldn’t hear the groaning anymore. She slowed from a sprint to a speedy walk, not willing to stop. Every hair on her body was on end, it felt like there was a pair of eyes on her at all times, like the darkness itself had eyes of its own. She was suddenly distracted by something she smelled. Smoke? She slowed to a stop to sniff the air. Something was definitely burning, but what? A cold dread wound around her like a snake, squeezing tighter and tighter. Anne’s feet were rooted to the spot as she looked around, searching for a fire. There was nothing, just an endless blackness. She heard another groan close behind her, it was almost directly into her ear. She wanted to run but she was paralyzed. The floor below her feet began to creak and moan like decades-old wood. She stared down at where her feet should be but saw nothing. 

The wood began to crack and splinter beneath her feet, burning puffs of heat seeped through the cracks. Beams of orange light peeked through the cracks too, illuminating her surroundings in dim light. She saw the silhouette of a man before she fell. She didn’t have the time to examine him properly before he was out of sight. Anne fell through the floor and landed on her back on a beam. Thick plumes of blinding smoke surrounded her like a suffocating cocoon. Her back slammed against the beam, knocking the wind out of her before she fell from the beam and was swallowed by the raging fire. 

Anne’s eyes snapped open when she made contact with the floor beside her bed, her side howling in agony. She scrambled up from the floor and cradled her wound. The entire ship was quiet and gently rocking from side to side. She sighed and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She dragged herself to her feet and started pacing the room. Walking back and forth all the while taking long, deep breaths. Her heart was still racing and her head was pounding. Long, deep breaths, she reminded herself. Her father had always told her to take deep breaths when she needed to stay calm and she’s been making good use of that advice since Haiti. Anne took one last breath before leaving her room. She walked as quietly as she could before climbing out onto the deck. A chilly wind blew gently over the ship as she walked. Anne leaned against the railing and stared out into the water, the reflections of the stars twinkled and flitted across the surface. She looked up at the sky and watched the stars glittering in the sky. Her heartbeat gradually began to slow along with her breathing. She’d try to sleep again in a bit, for now, she thought, she’d stargaze for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Up next: The ship sails. hehehe.


	16. Meanings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which: Shay kills Wardrop, the manuscript is recovered, and Shay and Anne have a conversation about the meaning of the creed. 
> 
> Up next: The location of a precursor temple is discovered and a long voyage begins.

The Morrigan came into port two days later. The summer winds blew warmer through the streets, covering the city in a humid blanket. Shay and Liam disembarked to meet Hope while Anne stayed behind to convalesce. It was near noon when they caught up with Hope. She was standing beneath a watchtower across the river from the city hall where the congress was meeting. Shay glanced up and saw the orange flag hanging from one of the support beams. It made him think about what Anne had told him last time they were in Albany. He didn’t have much time to think about it, though. Hope didn’t react when he got closer, she was so engrossed in thought that she didn’t notice them approach. He gently tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped and then sighed when she realized it was just him.

“You’re here,” she said flatly. “The congress is still in session: George Washington and his militia have fired on French troops under Jumonville. The French are calling it an act of war.” Shay cocked his head. 

“George Washington?” he asked. “You mean Lawrence’s younger brother?” Liam nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s the same,” he said. “Speaking of Washington, since you eliminated him, James Wardrop has moved up in ranks. All the Templar resources are at his disposal now.” Shay repressed the urge to cringe at the mention of Washington. His mind scrambled to change the subject. 

“What about the manuscript?” he asked. Hope moved away from the watchtower and towards Shay and Liam. 

“My sources in New York confirm that Wardrop has it,” she said. “I also learned that he is here, at the congress, under heavy guard.” Liam nodded and turned towards Shay. 

“Shay, find Wardrop, get that manuscript,” he ordered bluntly. He turned to go, leaving him and Hope alone for a moment. 

“This place is thick with Templar troops,” she muttered, her brow in knots. “Liam and I will make sure he doesn’t escape.” Shay nodded and watched the two leave together. He turned and looked across the river towards the city hall, where a sizeable crowd had gathered to listen to a man speak on a wooden platform. He left his place beneath the watchtower, walked down the street, and across the bridge, carefully avoiding the guards as he went. The closer he got to the crowd the more clearly he could hear the man speaking. 

“As I have stated previously, I believe we need a national union, granted by an act of parliament, but bringing greater independence to our colonies!” The man said. “The French are an immediate threat, and we are ill-prepared to face them. To put it bluntly: the colonies must join or die!” the crowd took this grave warning fairly well, Shay thought, and they turned to murmur amongst themselves. Someone was clapping for the man as he came down from the stage. Shay had to take a second look at him before his mind made the connection. That must be the Templar William Johnson! Perhaps he has the manuscript? Or knows where it is?

“A rousing speech, Master Franklin,” Johnson said. “But do you truly believe great Britain will grant her colonies autonomy?” Franklin shrugged. 

“They have little choice, Master Johnson!” he insisted. “You know the remoteness of this frontier better than most.” Johnson nodded, the two began to walk away from the crowd. Shay followed as closely as he could without being spotted. 

“Yes,” he said. “But let us leave politics for another day. I wanted to thank you for your research-” Franklin visibly perked up. 

“Of course, Of course! In the brief time, I could examine that box, I knew it was something special. From ancient Egypt, you said?” Johnson nodded his confirmation before Franklin continued. “Well, as I mentioned in my letter, I am quite ready to electrify it!” he said. Franklin clapped his hands together and wrung them excitedly. Johnson grinned. 

“Excellent!” he said. “We will have the box delivered shortly, in the meantime-” he paused and nodded to a guard standing nearby. “Captain!” he called. The redcoat stepped forward with his hands tucked behind his back and his head defensively tilted down. 

“I apologize, sir,” the guard said. “ but master Wardrop refused to hand it over. He said the risks were too great.” Johnson’s face suddenly darkened. 

“The risks?” he echoed through clenched teeth. He quickly composed himself before turning back to Franklin. “Ah… I apologize, you will have the manuscript and box in the briefest of delays.” Franklin nodded and walked off, leaving Johnson and the guard alone. The moment Franklin was out of earshot Johnson bared his teeth and growled. “You mangy excuse for a uniform! Run to fort Frederick and tell Maser Wardrop he’d better cough up that manuscript post haste, else I will have him scalped!” the captain nodded frantically and turned to run. Shay waited for Johnson to turn his back before going after him. The captain was running towards a checkpoint manned by about five or six guards near the main path to the fort. If he reached Wardrop before Shay did, he’d be on high alert and make things more difficult for him. Shay took his air rifle from its holster and loaded a berserk dart. He aimed carefully down the sights as to not waste his shot. He waited until the captain was closer to the checkpoint before firing. The captain stopped suddenly in his tracks and pawed at the back of his neck, he pulled out the little dart and stared at it for a moment. Shay scrambled up the nearest building to avoid the oncoming chaos. 

The captain looked towards the other soldiers who were still standing watch at the checkpoint up ahead. Shay watched from the rooftop as the captain discarded the dart and stalked towards the oblivious redcoats. He drew his sword and took a swing at one of the guards. The guard jumped back and the swing missed. They started yelling and cursing as they drew their own weapons, all the while shouting for the captain to stand down. He responded by swinging again and again. The steel glittered in the sunlight as they fought to subdue their rogue captain, all the while Shay was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, bypassing the checkpoint and heading towards the fort. He heard a man screaming as he went, only to be cut off by a gunshot. Shay went on up the path until he’d reached fort Frederick. It was a tall, imposing structure built from brick and crumbling stucco. Cannons stood at the ready with guards patrolling behind them. Shay crouched low to the ground hidden in the brush as he planned out what he was going to do. He spotted a tree growing close to one of the outer walls, he could probably make it in if he jumped from there. 

Shay moved from concealment to concealment, timing his movements so the guards wouldn’t spot him as he approached. Shay hid at the base of the wall until the patrol moved on before climbing the tree and using some protruding bricks to scramble up the wall. He’d made it into the fort, now he needed to find Wardrop. Shay quickly scanned his surroundings, the guards would be coming around soon. He didn’t want to stay where he was much longer and risk getting caught, so he turned and climbed up and onto the roof of one of the watchtowers, the exposed brick providing a makeshift ladder. His forearms started to burn from all the climbing but he forced his attention back to the situation at hand. Now that he had a higher vantage point, Shay could get a better view of the fort. It wasn’t that big of a fort, just a few small buildings encased in a ring of unkempt walls. In the center of the fort, there was a large courtyard with a small house and stables. Standing in this courtyard, speaking to a young soldier, was an older man in a fine coat. He carried himself with an air of authority that could be seen even from where Shay was watching. That had to be Wardrop, after all, who else could it be? 

Shay was about to climb down from the roof, but stopped and jumped back from the edge when a guard passed underneath him. When the guard had safely passed, Shay climbed down from the roof and carefully made his way to the opposite wall, ducking behind barrels and crates whenever a guard ventured too close. Eventually, he made it to the farther side of the courtyard where the wall came close to the roof of the house. Shay hopped the gap fairly easily and stayed low to the rooftop as he scanned the courtyard for Wardrop. He wasn’t far from where Shay had first spotted him, he was still talking to the guard and seemed tense. Shay thought back to what the guard captain had said. ‘The risks were too great’, was he expecting him? Shay pushed that thought from his mind, he wouldn’t let himself get distracted by doubt. He pulled his air rifle out of its holster again and loaded another berserk dart. He aimed down his sights at the soldier Wardrop was talking to and fired. The soldier grimaced and plucked the dart out of the side of his neck. He and Wardrop eyed it for a moment. Wardrop started to look more and more alarmed. His head swiveled around as he scanned his surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. By the time his eyes came back to the soldier, he was reading his musket. Wardrop shouted and scrambled away from him. The yelling attracted the attention of the other soldiers. Shay watched from the rooftop as Wardrop ran from his attacker and the other soldiers stepped in to stop their drugged comrade. 

The mad soldier fought like a rabid dog, swinging and slashing with his bayonet before one of his comrades successfully knocked his musket from his hands and tackled him to the ground. Wardrop had run and hidden in a covered storage area. Shay climbed down the opposite side of the house and slipped in while the guards were still preoccupied. Shay found Wardrop with his back to him, cowering in the corner. He jumped when he heard Shay come in the door. He whirled around to look at Shay, the first thing he noticed was the book encased in his arms. Shay lunged forward and sank his hidden blade into Wardrop’s chest. His agonized cries were muffled by his coughing and wheezing as Shay lowered him to the ground. Once he was in a better position, Shay snatched the manuscript from his hands. 

“I’ll take that, you Templar dog,” Shay said. Wardrop struggled to hold on to the manuscript but ultimately lost it to Shay. 

“No!” he moaned. “You have no idea what you’re doing, you fool!” Wardrop had one hand pressed against his wound while the other hopelessly grasped for the manuscript. Shay turned on his heel to snap at him. 

“Keeping the people free from your control!” he hissed. Wardrop rolled his eyes. 

“How free will you be when the french undermine these squabbling colonies?” he asked. 

“These colonies would be far better off without the Templars pulling the strings!” he insisted. Wardrop started wheezing a pathetic excuse for a laugh. 

“We bring order from chaos!” he insisted. “If everything is permitted, no one is safe,” the life faded from him quickly after that, his eyes stared blankly back at Shay. he bent down close to him. 

“Even the devil can quote scripture to suit his own purposes,” he spat. Wardrop was beyond caring now, though, and Shay turned to leave. He slipped out the door and scrambled back up the roof. The sun was beginning to set, casting shadows over the fort. He crept from the rooftop and onto the wall. Most of the soldiers were still milling about the courtyard cleaning up the mess and didn’t notice him climbing up and over the outer wall. Shay ran from that place like a bat out of hell, only slowing down when he got back to town and running would attract too much attention. He wove through the streets until he’d gotten back to the docks where the Morrigan was anchored. He only began to breathe easily when his feet hit the Morrigan’s deck. Liam looked at him expectantly as he approached the wheel. 

“I have the manuscript,” Shay said as the Morrigan left port. Liam nodded.

“Great,” he said. “Hope is waiting for you at Sleepy Hollow,” the familiar churning feeling took root in Shay’s chest again. 

“What’s at Sleepy Hollow?” he asked dreadfully. 

“Benjamin Franklin,” he said bluntly. “The man Johnson hired to make that strange precursor box work,” Shay already knew who Franklin was, he’d seen him at the assembly earlier. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Shay asked. Liam shrugged with his eyes towards the sky, like he was counting all the little stars that were creeping onto the slowly darkening sky. 

“Meet Hope, impersonate one of Johnson’s men, and give the manuscript and box to Franklin,” he explained. Shay’s brow furrowed. 

“So I’m the messenger, then?” he mumbled. Shay’s limbs felt heavy and it was getting harder for him to go along with the non-stop work they were having him do. 

“Aye,” Liam said. “See if Franklin can figure out how this damn box operates, and stay with him!” he insisted. “Oh, and as far as we can tell, this man doesn’t know about the Templars, or the Assassins, for that matter.” Shay’s grip on the wheel tightened, dear lord he was tired. 

“Oh, a simple task,” he said bitterly. Liam, either not picking up on his frustration, or choosing to ignore it, responded, 

“Fit for a simple man,” Shay didn’t bother to respond, instead of keeping his gaze ahead of them. They sailed on silently until the sun had sunken below the horizon. The stars glinted overhead as he passed the wheel off to a crewmate and trudged back to his cabin. 

Shay plopped down in his bed and wiggled under the covers, and found himself staring at his dark ceiling with his mind still whirring. What should have been a quiet moment grew into a long and sleepless silence. He tossed and turned until eventually, he gave up on trying to sleep and rolled out of bed, he paced back and forth his cabin until he was sure he’d worn a rut in the floor. The last words of Smith and Wardrop whirled around in his head until the air around him felt stale and heavy. ‘Your brotherhood is using you!’, Shay gave up any hope of sleep and decided to get some fresh air to clear his head. The thick summer air filled his lungs as he walked out onto the deck and leaned against the starboard side railing. Shay gazed down at the stars’ reflections on the water's quivering surface. 

Wardrop’s last words came back to him, ‘If everything is permitted, no one is safe!’ Shay couldn’t stop thinking about that, he’d been hostile at the moment but the more he thought about it the more he agreed. How much freedom did the Assassins strive for? He wasn’t sure, they’d never been specific. Now that he thought about it, ‘freedom’ was a very general term… Shay heard hinges groaning behind him and turned to see what was going on. Anne had pushed open the hatch to climb above deck. She bent down and carefully closed it behind her so as not to make more noise. She yawned and turned towards the railing Shay was leaning on. When she opened her eyes and saw him she hesitated for a moment, like she hadn’t expected him to be there. Her hesitation melted quickly and she came up to join him. 

“You’re up late,” Shay pointed out. Anne yawned again. 

“So are you,” she said. The two of them stood together, looking out onto the ocean. “What brings you out here?” she asked. Shay shrugged, 

“Couldn’t sleep,” he said bluntly, “You?” she nodded, 

“I couldn’t sleep, either,” she said. The two fell into a short silence before Anne spoke up again. 

“How are you doing?” she asked. Her entire body drooped like it was having trouble keeping her upright 

“ ‘M alright,” he lied. He felt her eyes on him but he didn’t look. Shay sighed as his resolve quickly crumbled. “That’s a lie,” he said. He looked over at her and found her looking up at him with a pair of concerned, pale eyes. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Shay’s eyes darted from her again and looked for something else to focus on. 

“It’s something Wardrop said before he-” the word froze on his tongue for a moment. “Before he died.” Anne cocked her head.

“And what did he say?” she asked. Shay sighed and braced himself. 

“He said: ‘If everything is permitted, no one is safe’.” he looked back at her to gauge her reaction. Shay couldn’t quite tell what she was thinking, but she didn’t look at all irritated. She waited for a second before responding. 

“And what did you think about it?” she asked. 

“Well, I-” he paused. “It sounds right to me, I mean-” Shay’s throat suddenly felt dry, he thought back to how Liam reacted to his feelings about killing Smith, how he brushed off his concerns and all but ignored how he felt. The thought of Anne doing that to him made him feel even sicker. “A land without law would be anarchy, no?” he asked. Anne nodded 

“It would, without a doubt,” she said. “But he misunderstood the meaning of the creed.” Shay’s brow furrowed as she went on. “To say ‘everything is permitted’ is to say that we are responsible for our own actions and are not truly bound by the rules set for us, we may be free to do as we wish, but it doesn’t free us from the consequences of our actions,” she said. Shay’s shoulders relaxed a bit and he felt a little lighter than he did a minute ago. 

“Thank you,” he said quietly. She leaned closer to him, resting her hand on his forearm. 

“Of course, Shay,” she said. He looked down at her hand and enclosed it in his own. He kept his eyes there as he lightly ran his thumb over the top of her wrist. “We have the tenets for a reason, Shay, we’re only Assassin’s for as long as we hold to them. ,” she paused for a moment. “It’s good you question things like this, too many of us follow blindly,” she paused for a moment. “You have a great deal of potential, I think, despite what Chevalier may believe,” she said. Shay felt his chest constrict.

“Thank you,” he said again as he gently squeezed her hand. A syrupy warmth began to crawl through his veins. She leaned closer to him and he made no attempt to move away. His eyes darted from her lips to her eyes and back. Shay carefully watched her reactions as he moved to cup the side of her face in his right hand. Anne pulled away for a moment before realizing what he was doing and relaxed again. She gently grinned as the warmth from Shay’s palm spread across her cheek. Anne’s own hand came up to keep his hand in place. Her thumb brushing against the back of his hand as she did. At that moment, the rest of the world seemed to fall away, leaving only a small bubble of existence where they stood. 

Anne tilted her head up as he leaned in to kiss her, Shay’s heart skipped a beat when their lips met. He wrapped his opposite arm around her waist and pulled her closer. The moment passed too quickly for him, though, she pulled away after a few seconds. A sheepish grin came across her face as her brain caught up with her body. Shay couldn’t help but smile, too. She pressed her cheek into his palm again, her eyes still on him.

Good lord, she was beautiful. 

“Been wantin’ to do that for a while, now,” he admitted. Anne smiled up at him, she took his hand from the side of her face and squeezed it. 

“Oh, really?” she asked coyly. Shay grinned and nodded. “Well,” she purred. “So have I,” butterflies unfurled in Shay’s stomach. 

" Can I do it again, then?” he asked shamelessly. Anne worried her lower lip between her teeth and nodded. His grip on her waist tightened and he pulled her in for another quick peck, which turned into another and then another. The first thing Shay saw when they finally pulled away from one another was Anne’s angelic smile. He mirrored her, smiling broadly enough to force the corners of his eyes to crinkle. Shay felt like he was buzzing, the butterflies were fluttering at full force and his entire body felt warm and light. The two of them stood together on the Morrigan’s deck, wrapped up in one another’s arms, and neither willing to be the first to move and break the trance. Anne was the first to speak. 

“We should probably get some rest,” she said. “We have to meet with Franklin tomorrow.” Shay nodded as he started to come back to earth. 

“Aye, we should,” he muttered. A cold wind blew past them as they untangled from one another. Anne maintained her grip on one of his hands, though. She cupped the side of his face in her opposite hand and pulled him down to kiss his cheek. Only then did she release his hand and pull away. 

“Goodnight, Shay,” she said. He nodded and watched her disappear below deck. Once she was safely out of sight he sighed and leaned against the railing again. Butterflies were still wreaking havoc in his abdomen and his mind was whirring. Any hope of sleep tonight had been dashed a few minutes ago. Shay looked up to the moon and stars that glittered in the sky like a thousand little candles, a lovesick grin stuck to his face. If only for a moment, his worries were a hundred miles away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, if any of y'all would like to chat with me about Assassin's Creed or another fandom, you can find my hidy hole @: https://theoneandonlylynn.tumblr.com/
> 
> :)


	17. More than dirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Which: The location of a precursor temple is discovered and a long voyage begins 
> 
> Up Next: Shay and Anne have a discussion about Templars and morality.

They reached Sleepy Hollow late the next day, the sky was obscured by a heavy, grey curtain of clouds. Anne stood beside Shay and Liam as the Morrigan pulled into port. She stole glances at him from time to time. It didn’t look like he’d gotten much sleep last night, his eyelids hung low and his back and shoulders looked stiff, like they had to work harder to keep him upright. He caught her looking once and smiled in a way that made her heart skip a beat. Anne hadn’t gotten much sleep last night either, she’d managed to sleep for a fitful few hours before the sun rose and she gave up. She and Shay disembarked to meet Hope, leaving Liam behind. Before they left Shay ducked into his cabin to retrieve the precursor box and manuscript. The two of them walked together through town, passing shops and houses alike as they made their way up the hill towards Franklin’s house. The sky had grown darker the closer they got to their destination, rain began to fall and soak their clothes. The cold water was refreshing on Anne’s face, helping to jolt her awake, the extra weight her clothes took on as they absorbed the rain was less welcome.

When she and Shay arrived they were met by a scowling Hope. When she spotted them her glare immediately darkened. 

“You’re late,” she said through gritted teeth. “The sky is getting temperamental,” she wasn’t wrong. The rain had been pelting them harshly for the past few minutes and lightning flashed across the sky.

“That’s not the only thing, is it?” Shay asked sarcastically. Hope rolled her eyes and the three of them moved towards the back of the house. A workshop had been set up beneath a small, outdoor pavilion. Anne didn’t have much time to take in what exactly was being done beneath that pavilion, she heard a door open and immediately turned to see what was happening. An older man shuffled out of the house with a pair of glass bottles in his hands. He didn’t notice they were there until Shay called to him. Having to raise his voice to be heard over the storm. 

“Master, Franklin, sir!” he said, “My name is Shay Cormac and these are my associates Hope and Anne,” Franklin stopped in his tracks and turned towards them, paying them only a moment’s attention before shrugging them off. Shay pulled the artifacts from his coat and held them out to him. “William Johnson told us to give you these,”. Franklin stared at the artifacts for a moment before shoving the bottles he was holding off on Hope. He snatched the artifacts from Shay and quickly looked them over in awe before his face fell. 

“Thank you,” he said despondently, “but I’m afraid I must delay my experiment.” Hope’s brow knotted in confusion. 

“Delay it? Why?” she asked. Franklin spoke as he continued to walk towards the pavilion.

“The army confiscated my lightning rods,” he paused to set the artifacts down on the table amongst his other tools and supplies. “They are essential to conducting the electricity I need to vivify your box,” 

“Master Johnson would not want you to have to wait,” Shay said. Franklin didn’t bother to look at him, he was too busy fiddling with his tools and contraptions. 

“Perhaps there is something you could do, then?” Franklin suggested. “Soldiers have been hauling things away all day, perhaps they could tell you where they’ve taken my lightning rods, so you could get them back?”. Shay nodded and began to step away. 

“M’at your service, sir,” he said. 

“Begin your investigation at the market near the docks,” Hope ordered, “Anne and I will help with the preparations,”. Shay nodded again and turned to go. Anne watched him for a moment before springing into action. She milled about the little workshop gathering things Franklin needed while Hope assisted him at the table. 

“This is intolerable,” Franklin muttered. “I can barely conduct my research anymore!” Hope nodded. 

“Everyone is having metal confiscated, these days,” she said. Franklin sighed, 

“Yes, yes, the army will melt it down and turn it into weapons,” he lamented. “War is upon us.” A dreadful silence overcame them. Both Anne and Hope knew the Assassins had supported the French invasion of the Colonies, if the British hold on the Colonies was weakened, the Templar hold would weaken with it and the Brotherhood could further cement their influence on the continent. They’d never tell Franklin that, of course, instead, Hope broke the silence and redirected the conversation. 

“So, Master Franklin, what is this?” she asked sweetly. Franklin perked up at the opportunity to talk about his work. 

“A Leyden jar!” he said excitedly. “It temporarily stores power in the form of vitreous and resinous electricity.” Hope hummed to herself. 

“Really?” she asked. “What will you do with the jar when it is full?” Franklin dramatically gestured to the lineup of jars he had at the ready. 

“Ah, what will I do with all my jars?” he asked rhetorically. “For this experiment, we will need an entire energy storage system, the many units fire at once! So, I call it a battery! It should make your interpretation box operate.” 

“Fascinating,” Hope said, her eyes combed through Franklin’s set up, memorizing how the jars were set up and what wires went where. The three of them worked to connect the precursor box to Franklin’s set up, once that was done they waited. The storm whipped up winds and rains loud enough to make it difficult to hear anything over the sound. Anne was relieved when she saw Shay finally reappear with a pair of lightning rods in hand.

“Shay!” Franklin shouted over the din. “Quick! Help me with the rods!” Franklin rushed to help as Shay kneeled down and staked one of the rods in the ground, Franklin screwed a copper ball onto the tip of the rod before Shay extended the rod to its full height. They repeated the same process with the opposite rod. Lightning darted across the sky more and more often now, casting harsh shadows across them. Once the rods were ready, the two men stepped back and waited for lightning to strike. As they waited, Franklin tinkered with the box. Lightning struck close by and the box jittered to life for a moment, casting a dim, blue light before dying. They waited with baited breath until lightning struck again and the box lit up for a bit longer before dying again. Anne swallowed thickly. If this didn’t work… She didn’t have time to finish the thought. Lightning struck one of the rods directly and the box suddenly exploded in a burst of light. The force of the strike was enough to knock them off their feet. Anne scrambled up to see the giant blue orb of light the box was emitting. It was a globe with multiple yellow markers scattered across the world. Anne heard someone groaning beside her feet but she couldn’t pull her eyes from what she was seeing. 

“It’s a map!” Hope marveled. She pointed to one of the glowing markers. “Where is that?” the three of them were quiet for a moment before Shay spoke up. 

“Portugal, Lisbon, I’d stake my life on it!” he said. It was then Anne finally tore her eyes from the map and looked down. Franklin was groaning on the ground, stunned from the sudden fall. She kneeled down to help him up as the light from the box faded. 

“Make yourselves scarce!” Hope ordered. “The militia will be here any minute.” She kneeled down to help Franklin to his feet. “I’m sure they will have questions.” He and Anne shared a questioning glance before he spoke up. 

“And what about you?” he asked. Hope grinned slyly. 

“I’m a devoted housekeeper,” she said. Shay nodded and turned to go, 

“Right,” he muttered. Anne went to follow him and the two of them retraced their path through the town and back to the Morrigan where Liam was waiting for them below deck. They dragged themselves below deck, soaked and exhausted. 

“ It worked, we set sail for two bends tomorrow morning,” Shay said, water still dripping from his hair and coat. Liam nodded. 

“Good work, Shay,” he said, Shay was already shuffling off to his cabin to get some sleep, what little energy he had left was quickly draining. Liam looked expectantly to Anne next.

“Didn’t run into too much trouble, I trust?” he asked. Anne shrugged, 

“Not much,” she said. “Shay had to hunt down some lightning rods for Franklin, but we got what we needed,” Anne yawned. “There’s a temple in Portugal, Lisbon to be specific.” 

“Good,” Liam said. “Achilles will be pleased.” Anne nodded and turned to go. She dragged herself to her room and plopped down in bed. She wiggled beneath the covers and lay with her eyes closed until she drifted off to sleep. 

When she woke up sunlight was creeping through the minuscule openings in the wood and men’s footsteps could be heard overhead. She rolled out of bed and got dressed before climbing above deck. She had to squint her eyes until they acclimated to the sunlight. She walked across the deck towards Shay and Liam at the wheel. Shay perked up when he saw her coming. Liam noticed Shay’s sudden change and grinned to himself once he noticed Anne. She took her place next to Shay as he forced his eyes back to the path ahead of them. 

“Sleep well, Anne?” Shay asked with a grin. Anne smiled back. 

“Like the dead,” She said. 

“Apparently!” Shay said. The sun was burning almost directly above them, Anne guessed it must be around noon. “We’ll be in Two Bends soon, Hope will be meeting us there.” Anne nodded and looked ahead of them, the sea was calm and gulls occasionally cawed overhead. Maybe she could finally talk to Achilles about what happened in Albany? She wondered. The memory of Jane being attacked made Anne feel sick. She sighed and tried to push it from her mind, getting upset won’t help the situation. Instead, her thoughts were pulled back to what happened the other night. Her cheeks flushed when she thought of it. The feeling of his lips had sent shockwaves through her body and any logical thought flitted away. Her entire body felt warm when they finally managed to pull themselves away from one another, and even her feet carried her away, her heart begged her to turn back.

Anne was suddenly pulled from her thoughts by Shay tapping her shoulder. 

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked. Anne jerked back to attention. 

“Hmm? Oh! Yes, I just uh-” she paused and tapped her right temple with her forefinger. “Got lost in thought,” she said. Shay smiled and nodded. 

“Well,” Shay said. “We’re here. Achilles is expectin’ us.”. Anne nodded and the three of them disembarked. They walked from the docks and up the hill. Before they got to the bureau, Liam spoke up. 

“I have an errand to run,” he said. “I’ll catch up when I’m done.” Shay cocked his head as Liam split off from the group without waiting for a response. He watched Liam walk off before looking at Anne. 

“Wonder what that’s about.” Shay pondered. Anne shrugged. 

“Not sure,” she said. They continued their trek up the hill and to the bureau that overlooked the town. When they arrived both Hope and Achilles were waiting for them. Hope spoke first. 

“Lisbon is near as large as London or Paris,” she said. “Are you sure you can find this one place?” she spoke quickly and clearly like the question had been on her mind for a while. 

“I saw it clear as day, Hope,” Shay said. He walked past Hope to get a better view of the town below. “It’s a convent, right close by the harbor.” Anne cocked her head when she heard that. How did he know? She wondered. “I might have visited the sisters once or twice,” he said. Anne immediately deflated. That’s how he knew. 

“Given your present knowledge of the site, this duty falls upon you.” Achilles said. Shay turned towards him, his face growing more graven. “You understand what must be done?” he asked. Shay nodded. 

“Find the precursor temple, and retrieve the piece of Eden,” he said. Achilles stepped back. 

“We’ve finally attained a ship for crossing the ocean,” Hope said. She turned to Shay and smiled, “Have no worries, I’ll keep the Morrigan safe in New York.” Shay’s face softened suddenly and he gently rested his hand on her shoulder. 

“Thank you,” He said sweetly. Anne’s stomach suddenly tightened as he relinquished his arm and turned back towards Achilles. “Liam and I’ll leave straight away.” He started to go, but Achilles stopped him.

“Liam is… unavailable, at the moment,” Achilles said. “Anne is to accompany you to lend her expertise. Your crew and ship await, but be careful, the pieces of Eden are powerful relics.” Shay nodded and went to leave, Anne stepped forwards as he passed by. 

“Achilles, I-” he cut her off. 

“Not now, Anne,” he said. “Please, focus on the mission.” Anne froze for a moment, she stood there with her jaw tensed until she regained her senses and nodded. 

“Of course, mentor,” she said. She turned and went to join Shay, who had been silently watching the situation unfold. They left the bureau together and started heading back towards the Morrigan. Anne glared at the ground as she walked, her fists clenching until her knuckles were white before relaxing again. This feeling was all too familiar, those two words dragged her back to the Moskva brotherhood and the battles she had to fight for them to even consider her. Anne’s stomach was still churning when Shay tapped her shoulder.

“You alright?” he asked. Anne came back to earth and took a deep breath. 

“Yes,” she said. “Just frustrated.” Shay hummed. 

“Yea, that was-” he paused and glanced back up the hill. “Somethin’.” Anne chuckled bitterly. 

“Something, indeed!” she said. “But not at all unfamiliar.” 

“What d’you mean?” Shay asked. Anne sighed. 

“My own brotherhood used to do that to me,” She said. “Quite often, actually.” Shay swallowed thickly and went silent for a moment. 

“Don’t worry about it, m’sure he’ll be more willing to listen once we come back with a precursor artifact in tow,” Shay said confidently. Anne shook her head. 

“I’m not so sure,” she said. Shay cocked his head as she continued. “I suspect he knows. Hope doesn’t make her control of the gangs a secret, and she’s using the money they extort from people to fund the Assassin’s goals. Few mentors are so incompetent as to not keep tabs on what their students are up to.” Shay’s face fell as she spoke. “If he knows, I doubt he’ll do anything about it. As long as it benefits him and the Assassins nothing will change.” the two of them walked together in tense silence until they reached the docks. Shay and Anne spent the rest of the day transferring supplies from the Morrigan to the larger ship Hope had acquired for them. The  Cyoeraeth was much larger than the Morrigan and needed more supplies and men to sail the four-month journey from the Colonies to Portugal. 

Late in the afternoon, Anne was helping to store some things on the Cyoeraeth. She was coming up from below deck and going to make another trip when Shay and a crew member passed her on their way to stow things below deck. He smiled sweetly when Anne made eye contact and she responded with a smile of her own. The two men walked on while Anne scooped up another armful of supplies and circled back to stow them, all the while trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Around noon a courier came with a letter for her, she tucked it into her coat and hurried off to finish her work. Hours later the sun was beginning to set and by the time she was done her arms and back ached as they did after a full day’s training. 

She ducked below deck and sat down with a few sheets of paper, a quill, and an inkwell. The familiar scratching of the quill against the paper was the only thing she heard as the Cyrillic letters flowed from her hand: 

‘ Father, 

After much effort and bloodshed, we’ ve-’ Anne paused and rethought her wording, anyone could read these letters while they’re in transit. Better safe than sorry she thought. 

‘succeeded and are preparing to leave immediately. I and a colleague of ours will depart in a few days time, we will not fail. I pray you send word of your health, and the health of our family. I myself am well, as is most of our family on this continent. With luck it will remain so until I hear from you again.

Your daughter, 

Annushka Dimitriovna Lebedev.

Anne signed and sealed the letter in an envelope before she could give herself the opportunity to overthink anything. She immediately moved on to a clean sheet of paper and a new letter, this time writing in English. 

‘My dear Jane, 

I do hope you and the others are doing well, how is Mr.Byrnes? He’s keeping you busy, I trust? Are Phillip and Grace still talking? I hope so, he sounds like a good man. I’m writing to let you know that I will be visiting home for a few months and will not be able to write. I look forward to seeing my family in the old world again, it’s been too long. I’ll send word once I’ve returned. Maybe then Grace will have more to say about Phillip? I joke of coure. It was good to hear that the gangs don’t bother you as much as they used to, let's pray that it remains so. 

Your friend, 

Anne.’ 

She closed and sealed the letter and set it aside with the first, she’d send them in the morning. In the meantime she went and snatched a plate of food before squirreling herself away in her room. As she ate, she thought about Shay, to be more specific, what he’d said during their meeting with Achilles a few days prior. ‘I may have visited the sisters once or twice.’, those words troubled her more than she thought they should. She thought back to something she overheard two months prior.

She’d gone below deck to eat something, but when she found the cook in a rather… compromising position with one of the crew, she opted to head back to Shay and Liam instead. She was just about to climb the stairs to join them but stopped when she heard them talking. The nosy part of her took over and she stayed where she was to listen. 

“-buttocks and bosoms and feel no shame in putting them on display. But that’s no slight against our lasses from home!” she heard Shay say. Liam gave a non-committal answer as Shay continued. “I think Galway has the nicest ones, fair and modest, always willing to spot you a penny for an ale,” Anne’s brow grew knotted as she listened further. “And then there’s the maids I met in Lisbon. Destined for the convent, they were. All dark-eyed and kindly dispositioned, If only I’d spoke Portuguese. Not that we spent much of our nights talkin’!”. By then Anne had had enough. She turned away and walked back to the hatch and climbed below deck. She wasn’t sure if they saw her or not and at the moment she didn’t care much. She paced back and forth in her room with her stomach in knots. At the time she told herself she was being ridiculous. And she was. Shay was a grown man with his own desires, and they weren’t involved with one another, she had no right to feel like this. But now that he’d shown interest… 

She thought about what he’d said during their meeting with Achilles. “I may have visited the sisters once or twice.”. It was clear he’d been around, but was that what he wanted from her? To share a bed with for a few nights only for them to part ways? Even if that were true, would she want that as well? Her body responded with a small twinge of heat between her legs. No, she shouldn’t, everything she’d been taught told her that to indulge in such a thing would be incredibly wrong. What would her family say if they found out? Or god forbid one of the Heiromonks back home? Anne set her half-empty plate on the nightstand and plopped back down on her bed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She hadn’t been as careful as she should have been, something she found herself thinking more and more lately. She’d told herself time and time again she shouldn’t get attached and yet here she was. But she wasn’t thinking about that at the moment, when it was just them she could never bring herself to care about the consequences. 

Anne closed her eyes and sighed. She’d never had to deal with anything like this before and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. After years of searching for one of these precursor sites, she was so close. Anne curled up beneath the blankets and nervously toyed with the edge, exhaustion was beginning to catch up to her. She shouldn’t pursue anything with Shay, if she did... She couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore, for now, Anne was going to get some longed for rest.

________________________________

After two more hectic days of packing and moving, Shay finally finished preparing the Cyoeraeth. The final delivery came a day late, much to Anne’s frustration. They set sail a few hours after the final boxes of supplies were loaded. The first day of sailing went smoothly and Shay handed the wheel off to Anthony a few hours after the sunset. He yawned as he went below deck to get some food. Most of the crew had already gone to bed, leaving the ship silent. Shay took his plate and started back towards his cabin, the cool night air filled his lungs as he stepped out onto the deck. A bird flew overhead as he walked. He watched the bird fly past the mast and disappeared behind a shadow before flying out of sight. Shay did a double-take when he saw the silhouette sitting on the platform about the shrouds. He squinted his eyes to see in the low light as he tried to figure out which of the crew that was. Shay couldn’t think of any that had a frame that small-. His mind stopped in its tracks. Anne.

He perked up at that thought, they hadn’t been able to talk much since Sleepy Hollow and he’d started to miss their talks. Shay quickly ducked into his cabin and left his food on his desk before heading back out. He crossed the deck and climbed the shrouds to reach the upper platform. When he pulled himself onto the platform and stood up he looked to find her eyes on him. Shay gave her a nod and smiled. 

“Mind if I sit down?” he asked. Anne smiled back, 

“No, not at all,” she said. She scooted over and patted the wood next to her. Shay sat down beside her and sighed. 

“Are you alright?” she asked. Shay nodded. 

“Yea, ‘m fine, just tired,” he said. Anne hummed,

“Can’t sleep again?” she asked. He shook his head, 

“No, haven’t been to bed yet, actually,” he said. “Saw you up here and thought I’d join you,” Anne looked over at him and smiled, he couldn’t help but smile back. A cool breeze blew through them, wicking away warmth as it went. 

“Well,” she said. “Your company is always welcome,” Shay felt his heart patter at that, he did his best to fight back the grin that was spreading across his face. 

“Glad t’hear that,” he said gleefully. He cleared his throat when she turned her head to look quizically at him. “Erm, I’ve been meanin’ to ask you somethin’,” he said. 

“And what’s that ?” she asked. 

“Well,” he started. “Since we’re so close to findin’ one of these temples, what’re you expectin’ to find there exactly?” Anne went quiet for a moment before shrugging. 

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I’ve never set foot in a precursor site myself, but I’ve read accounts of people who have.”. She nervously played with her fingers in her lap as she talked. “We could encounter an…” she paused, “Apparition of sorts,” Shay cocked his head. 

“A what?” he asked. 

“I’m not sure what to call it,” she said. “But sometimes these temples house messages left by those who came before. They’re mostly incomprehensible, though. But most of these temples house powerful pieces of Eden.” 

“What do they do? The pieces, I mean.” Shay asked. 

“Many things,” she replied. “They come in many forms, and have many uses, but they’re mostly used to control and enslave. That’s what makes them so dangerous, and why they can never fall into Templar hands,” Shay nodded.

“Good thing we’re ahead of them, then,” he said. 

“But for how long?” Anne muttered. Her brow knotted and her eyes were trained on her hands that had fallen still in her lap. 

“What’d you mean?” Shy asked. Anne looked back to him, her eyes glinting in the starlight. 

“The Templars are tenacious and resourceful, even without the manuscript and box, they have alternate means of finding precursor sites.” Shay gently rested his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. 

“Hey,” he said soothingly. “We’ve gotten out ahead of them, even if they know about the temple in Lisbon they won’t get there before we do.” Anne smiled and held his hand against her shoulder. She gently ran her thumb across his wrist with a sweet look in her eyes. “Thank you,” she said. Shay smiled back at her, doing his best to calm the buzzing in his gut. He kept his hand where it was until she withdrew her own. He looked up at the sky and watched the full moon glow brightly against its inky backdrop. The way it shone above him brought back a memory that he hadn’t thought of in a long time. 

“This reminds me of somethin’” he said, Anne looked over and he continued

“When Liam and I were children there was an eclipse. The crowd was so thick we had to climb to the roof of a church to watch,” he said. 

“What kind of eclipse was it?” she asked. 

“Erm… Liam told me it was called a Lunar eclipse. The moon blocked out the sun,” 

“I wish I could have seen it,” Anne said. She edged a little closer to him as another cold wind blew through. 

“Aye,” Shay said, “It was beautiful,”. But she was far prettier, he thought. The two sat together for a quiet moment, gazing at the stars before Anne spoke up again. 

“Can I ask you something?” she asked. 

“Anything,” he said. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards slightly as she spoke. 

“What was it like growing up in the colonies?” she asked. “I remember you said you and Liam grew up rough and I was wondering…” she trailed off when he nodded. 

“ Yea, it was… tough,” he said. “Was raised by my aunt, mostly. Dad was off at sea more often than not. We shared a room with another family that came to the colonies when I was two-” Anne cut him off. 

“wait, A  _ room?” _ she asked in disbelief. Shay nodded. 

“Aye, a room. Couldn’t afford a house. Even with all of us, we could barely afford the rent. Damn landlords bled us dry. We could rarely afford decent food, the rest was either stolen or scavenged,” Anne’s brow was knotted and her face was scrunched a bit. He wasn’t sure whether she was horrified or disgusted, maybe both? 

“Wait a moment,” Anne said. “You said you were raised by your aunt?”. Shay’s jaw tensed, he knew where this was going. 

“Yes, mum died in childbirth,” he said plainly. He watched Anne deflate and he could have sworn he felt his chest constrict.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t-” 

“No, no, it’s alright, you didn’t know,” he said. Anne’s eyes retreated back to her lap, her hands twisting together. Shay wasn’t sure what else to say, so he went on.   
“When I was twelve I started t’work with my da on deck. It’s where I first met Liam, actually, He and his dad worked to unload the ships I worked on,” The tension in her body began to fade when he brought up Liam.

“And you’ve been friends since then?” she asked. Shay nodded with a slight grin. 

“Yep, were off causin’ trouble together whenever we weren’t workin’,” Anne snickered to herself. 

“What? Liam causing trouble? Impossible.”

“He didn’t always have that stick shoved up his arse,” Shay said. 

“What do you mean?” she asked. It was Shay’s turn to squirm now. He felt her gaze on him as he sat there silently, wondering what to say next. 

“Well, erm… Liam a]nd the others weren’t paid much for their work, barely 50 pounds a year,” Shay nodded after he watched her jaw drop. “Yeah, it was an awful time for them. They tried to push for higher wages but the bosses weren’t having it so…” he trailed off. Anne leaned closer to him. 

“So...what?” she asked. 

“So, Liam and a few others decided to get the money in a different way. He got a little gang together and tried to rob one of the bosses. It didn’t go well.” 

“What happened?” 

“They were caught. Someone tipped off the guards and one of them got violent. Liam did what he needed to do.” 

“He fought him?” 

“He killed him, shocked the other guards and bought time for escape, but only just. When the authorities came knocking again his dad took the fall, everything went to shite after that.” 

“What did they do?” 

“Liam’s dad was arrested, found guilty, and hanged. Liam lost his job and his ma fell into a depression. We didn’t talk much after that.” Anne’s mouth was agape as she stared back at him. 

“That-” she stuttered. “All that because they didn’t want to pay their workers more than dirt?” 

“Pretty much,” he said. Anne muttered something under her breath, too quietly for Shay to have heard what it was. 

“You say it like it’s a fact of life…” 

“Because it is. The bosses weren’t special in how they treated us. There isn’t much to be done about it-” Anne scoffed harshly and Shay jumped at the sudden outburst.

“You of all people should know that isn’t true,” she said. “There’s always something to be done,” 

“If we had a few more like you that might be true,” he said. Anne sighed.

“You know, I thought something similar of you when we first met,” Shay didn’t bother to hide the little bit of joy that tinged his voice. 

“Really?” he asked with a wide grin spreading across his face. Anne’s expression began to mirror his own.

“Mm-hm,”. Warmth crawled through his veins as the vision of her smile burned itself into his mind. 

“Well, we’re two of a kind, aren’t we then?” he said. Anne’s eyebrows shot up and her lips were pulled into a wide smile that sparkled in the starlight. 

“Indeed, we are!” she said as a chuckle rumbled through her chest. Shay couldn’t help but laugh with her. When their laughter quieted Anne’s eyes moved from him back to the sky. The moonlight cast delicate shadows over her face and neck, he very briefly wondered how his lips would feel against the warm column of her neck and collarbone. They sat together with their legs dangling from the edge of the platform, Shay’s eyes followed the silhouette of her body down to her lap where her fingers were nervously entangled with one another. Shay outstretched his own hand and rested it against the back of her own, his thumb gently stroking the back of her wrist. From the corner of his eye, Shay saw the ghost of a smile cross her lips before she turned her hand over to entwine her fingers with his. She gently squeezed down on his hand and she might as well have reached into his chest and squeezed his heart too, given how it reacted. There was a sudden weight on his shoulder as Anne leaned over and rested her head on him, her eyes still trained on the sky. A syrupy warmth spread through Shay’s veins, snaking through his blood and wrapping around his heart like a woolen blanket in the dead of winter. The moon shone full overhead as Shay thought of the voyage they had ahead of them and what lay at the end. A sudden dread pulled at his gut as he thought of what would happen once Anne’s mission here was done, the thought of her absence from his life pulled at his heart and made his chest tighten. Shay swallowed thickly and pushed the thoughts from his mind, that wouldn’t happen for a while, and she would always be close at hand while they were aboard the Cyoreath. That idea lessened the tightness in his chest a bit. Shay was pulled from his thoughts when Anne moved her head from his shoulder and untangled her hand from his own. 

“It’s late,” she said with a yawn. “We should get some rest.” Shay nodded silently and watched her stand to climb down. “Goodnight, Shay,” she said quietly. He nodded. 

“G’night, Annie,” he muttered. She grinned and carefully climbed down from the platform. Shay watched her silhouette cross the deck and disappear from his sight. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back! I took a bit of a hiatus and spent some time planning the story some more. 
> 
> For context: 50 pounds per year in the 1700's would equate to roughly 22,000 dollars per year in modern U.S dollars.
> 
> In other news, I'd like to show you this post I found that I thought fit Anne and Shay incredibly well, even if it isn't our Anna being mentioned: 
> 
> https://s144-incorrect.tumblr.com/post/627171989266841600/shay-i-cant-read-this-anna-you-cant-read-it


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